I Am Iron Man
by Ramore361
Summary: Set in Iron Man 2 movie-verse. Sequel to 'A Change'. The world now knows of Iron Man and who he is, but the government is not happy, while the suit proves to be taking it's toll on Tony Stark. Rebecca finds herself making big decisions and hiding it along the way, trying to help her father. Features new threats and some old faces. Rated for future chapters to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

The city was lit up with fireworks and flashing monuments as the Stark Expo glowed in the city of Queens, New York. It was an event started by Howard Stark in the early years of Stark Industries, and Tony finally opened the newest Expo to the world. The whole world knew he was Iron Man now, and they loved it. Any time he would fly out across the ocean or through the city, it always made the news and it always captured attention everywhere, which Tony Stark loved. It wasn't as bad as he thought it would be, owning up to the identity of Iron Man, in fact it was almost the opposite to all his worries. Because of the Iron Man suit, Tony had managed to negotiate a peace treaty with all the major super powers in the world, and he felt he was making up for the wrong he had caused. He was proud to wear the suit.

"There's gonna be a_ lot_ of press there tonight Tony so behave yourself." Pepper warned as he walked around the back of the jet.

"When do I not behave myself? I'm offended." Tony walked around in the Iron Man suit, sans helmet.

"How rude of me." Pepper spoke sarcastically. "Now, a few more things we need to go over-"

"Pepper, c'mon we've gone through this for the past few days, I won't do anything stupid, and even if I do, it's my party." he shrugged. "Now, if you'll excuse me."

Pepper watched as Tony adjusted the Iron Man helmet and walked toward the jet opening at the back, rolling her eyes.

"Tony," she called out. "Don't just run off-"

"I've got a party to drop in to." he called back. "I'll see you there when you make it."

"Tony!"

Pepper didn't even bother to call out any more once she noticed the back door opening, knowing what was next. Iron Man jumped carelessly from the the back of the jet, spiraling through the sky to the glowing arena below.

* * *

The crowd erupted in a cheer once Iron Man made his entrance into the arena through the open roof, striking quite the pose as his favourite song was blasted throughout the room. Flashes of gold and red filled the arena, mirroring the Iron Man colour scheme.

"Thank you! Thank you!" he cheered back to them, a smile on his lips, as the Iron Man suit was disassembled from him, leaving him in a nice suit. "Please, please." he ushered them.

Thousands of eyes in the room were all glued to him as he spoke, insisting this even was not about him, even though his name was plastered around the room. It was incredible how much power he ha over all of these people now, but not in an oppressive way. He had the ability to have his voice heard all around the world now, everyone was interested and craved to know more about Iron Man, although it had created numerous problems for him when it came to the government. They didn't approve, to say at the least.

"And now, I'd like to hand you over to my father, Howard Stark." Tony clapped as he walked off stage, a video playing of his late father and the creations that his mind had achieved.

Tony walked backstage to where Happy was standing, on guard, as his boss look completely unnerved by the fact that he had just addressed a crowd of over a thousand people, not to mention the international audience it was being broadcast to.

"Can't you just _walk_ through the door like a normal person?" Rebecca's voice came from behind him.

"Where's the fun in that?" he pulled a face.

Rebecca laughed, making her way over. Since her ordeal with Obadiah six months ago, she had to undergo a knee reconstruction and was now back on crutches for the final week of her rehabilitation. It was annoying having to go through it all in such a long time, but it was worth it to not have the pain any more.

"Where's Pepper?" Happy asked, having not seen her all evening.

"She wasn't in on the parachute idea." Tony shrugged.

"No I wasn't." Pepper's voice came through the door to their side. "I'd much rather just walk through the door like any _sane_ person would."

"Well that's just sad." Tony commented, earning a roll of the eyes from Pepper.

"This place is packed." Rebecca looked out the side to the crowd whose eyes were glued to the screen in front of them. "Easy thousand out there."

"Yeah." Tony smiled. "A lot of people like the Expo."

All three of them shared a look before Pepper spoke their thoughts.

"You mean they like _Iron Man_."

Tony frowned. "No, they like the expo. Iron Man just happened to be here."

Rebecca scoffed. "Yeah, right."

"Hey, you're coming out there with me soon." Tony reminded her. "So don't run off."

"Do I have to?" Rebecca whined. "You know I hate crowds, and that one out there is..._beyond_ a crowd."

"Yes, you do." Tony nodded. "It's the Stark Expo. You're a Stark."

"Fine." she bit her lip.

Tony casually walked off as the three of them began talking once again, making his way to the men's room. It had become a habit now for Tony to check his blood toxicity level since he as discovered his arc reactor was not treating him so well. The palladium within the arc reactor was poisoning him slowly, becoming increasingly deadly. As he pricked his finger, he read the screen on the monitor, and he found his worries were growing.

* * *

Now that the most part of the speeches to the crowd was over and a brief preview of the Stark Industries newest inventions had occurred, it was finally time for the public to enjoy the party of the opening night festivities.

Downstairs was the VIP party, and that's exactly where they were all heading to next. Pepper and Rebecca took the elevator down to the bottom floor whereas Happy tried to calm the people down as Tony walked down the staircase being bombarded by adoring fans and young children with their Iron Man masks. Tony signed as many pictures for the kids as he could before he was being spoken to by a whole bunch of new people.

"How've you been Tony?" A man asked as he shook his hand, acting as if they knew each other although Tony couldn't recall.

"Hey Tony," A beautiful woman walked past, not-to-subtly brushing herself against his body as she made her way past, handing him a number. "Call me."

Tony smiled back at her and then handed the number to Happy instead. "Merry Christmas."

The amount of strangers that Tony pretended to know was overwhelming, so he made his way through the crowd quicker and he soon found Rebecca talking with a reporter.

"Do you think your Grandfather Howard would be proud of the newest Stark Expo? How would he feel about your dad following his dreams of this event?" The reporter held out the microphone.

Rebecca didn't know her grandfather, she wasn't even alive to have that opportunity, she had missed out on grandparents completely, so to answer this question she had no option but to improvise.

"I think my grandfather would be proud of my father. The Stark Expo is a huge dream for my family and it's wonderful to finally live it for myself. I'm very proud of my father for what he's accomplished and I just hope one day I can make him equally proud."

Rebecca thought that was a reasonable answer, skimming over what they wanted to hear in order to avoid the question again.

''Isn't that sweet?" Tony wrapped his arm around her shoulder and kissed her cheek. "She's already made me proud, she an amazing daughter."

"Can we get a photo of you two?" the reporter's camera man pointed a lens toward them.

"Sure." Tony smiled, pulling Rebecca close to his side to pose for the camera. Rebecca stood proudly next to her father, a genuine smile on her lips as the camera flashed.

"Hey I lost you back there." Pepper appeared next to Rebecca as she walked away from the cameras and into the party again.

"Sorry, these people swarm." Rebecca laughed.

"Oh yeah, I know." Pepper agreed.

Tony had no idea how long he had been walking around the same crowd of people downstairs, just going around in circles as people called his name and wanted to talk with him. When he reached the same person he has spoken to twice now, he knew it was time to leave.

* * *

"Washington? As in...Washington DC?" Rebecca asked as they made their way to the car downstairs. "Tonight?"

Tony nodded. "Right now, actually."

As they walked further, they spotted Happy standing near the driver side door of one of Tony's favourite sports cars. "I don't know-"

"_I'm_ driving." Tony held his hand out for Happy to toss him the keys.

Happy frowned and threw the keys to his boss, making his way over to the passenger side door. Tony had a rather unexpected visit previously in the evening, a woman informing him that his presence was needed in Washington to speak with Senator Stern, and so they were on their way.

"I thought you sorted all of that out." Rebecca spoke.

"I did...well,_ I_ thought it was sorted."

Tony stood at the back of the car, leaning on it as he spoke to Rebecca who was leaning on her crutches. Tony had been expecting some sort of meeting with the Senator, but he wasn't expecting such a demand for him. For weeks now Tony had been dealing with the government's complaints about his use of the suit. It wasn't exactly the suit, Tony hadn't used it dangerously, but it was the fact that it held so much power and the government had no control over it.

"Pepper will be flying in tomorrow, but I'm in the mood for a little road trip. What about you Happy?" Tony turned to look at Happy who had an obvious forced smile on his face at the thought of putting up with Tony's driving until Washington. "That's the spirit! Anyway you can go with her, she'll take the jet."

Rebecca smiled to herself at Happy's response. "I think I'll just wait at home."

Tony raised his eyebrows. "Alone? You'll just...stay at the house _alone._..will you?"

Rebecca nodded, and then narrowed her eyes at his tone. "Yes, I will. Why?"

"I don't like it." he shook his head speedily. "Nope, not okay with that."

Rebecca groaned. "Dad, seriously, it's _one_ day. I'm seventeen, I can take care of myself for 24 hours."

Ever since what had happened with Obadiah, Tony had grown even more protective of his daughter. She now had to be accompanied by Happy when going into the city or anywhere in general, and she had to hand over her phone to her dad for him to install a stronger tracking device and panic button that made him aware of any potential danger that she might end up in.

"You only _turned_ seventeen last week." he pointed out. "I'm still not okay with it."

Rebecca rolled her eyes. "I'll be fine, there's plenty of security and I won't even leave the house." she tried to convince him. "I'll even call to let you know I'm still alive. I'd be doing the same thing there as I would be here, _nothing_, because I'm kind of limited." Rebecca held up her crutches as proof. "I'll be responsible and safe, I promise."

Tony considered it silently before offering a deal. "I want phone calls every three hours and one before you go to bed and after you wake up."

"Seriously?" she asked, and just before Tony could speak again, she cut him off. "Okay, deal, I promise."

Tony frowned again, still not liking the idea, but he had the learn to stop babying her and give her some independence. It was only a day anyway, she'd probably sleep through the whole thing.

"Okay, well, I'll see you when I get back." he leaned forward to hug her gently and place a light kiss on her forehead. "Take care of yourself. I'm serious about those phone calls too, every three hours!"

"Yeah, yeah. I promise." Rebecca nodded as she watched her dad walk around to the driver side door. "Try not to get arrested this time." she called out, and Tony turned to her with a fierce laugh as he recalled last time. "Good luck Happy."

"Jarvis," Tony spoke into the speaker of his phone as he slowly pulled away from the parking spot, a direct line to the A.I back at the house. "When Rebecca arrives, activate _maximum_ security lock of the house. Take all precautions on anyone except Ms. Potts. I want the_ entire_ perimeter secure."

"Very well sir."

Tony threw his phone to the side then, gripping the steering wheel as he noticed Happy's uncomfortable expression.

"What?"

Happy shook his head. "Nothing boss, it's just that we haven't even driven out of the lot yet and you're already on your phone."

Tony laughed at Happy's concerns. "Okay, no more phone calls...probably, can't guarantee it. Stop worrying, this will be fun."

Happy sunk back into the seat more than he already was. "That's what I'm worried about."

* * *

**Well, there's the first chapter guys! I hope you enjoyed it. It's a little slow right now, but it'll pick up next chapter. Now, to address the whole 'Rebecca on crutches' deal, I wanted extend the injury a bit so that I could have a story behind what I'll be introducing probably next chapter, so it will all make sense. I'll be trying to stick to the movie plot-line as much as possible but I will be throwing a lot of new stuff in that will effect that plot, but hopefully it will all fit well in together. I wrote this chapter while still working on the last story, so I've updated rather quickly for you guys. Also, my one-shot series 'Being A Stark'' is up, and you can review it with requests for scenes you'd like me to write for you. I'd really love some reviews on this first chapter to know if I'm going alright and you guys like it, also any scenes you want me to include. I promise a better chapter next, I just wanted to establish what was happening. Well, until next chapter! Thanks!**


	2. Chapter 2

Rebecca arrived back home with Pepper not long after leaving the Expo, they'd been delayed whilst trying to make their way through the crowd of people. Pepper, not being okay with Rebeca being by herself, insisted she stay the night at the house in her guest room. There was a lot of work that needed to be done before Pepper had to leave early in the morning, so she would be doing nothing but paperwork.

Rebecca made her way over to the living room, plopping herself onto the couch and switching the television to the news, knowing what she was about to see.

_"The Stark Expo has officially kicked off here in New York with over a thousand people attending the launch of the Stark Industries' newest addition. The leading man Tony Stark made a special entrance with the appearance of Iron Man which drove the crowds here crazy. There was a special message from Stark Industries founder Howard Stark, as well as Tony's now seventeen year old daughter joining him on stage to mark the family's achievements."_

Rebecca's lips tugged into a slight smile as she watched the footage of her on stage with her dad, the video of Howard Stark still showing in the background, and she realized that was the most family she had in one frame before. The media sure was taking the Expo for everything it offered, and it was only going to get worse since the Expo lasted the entire year.

"Do you need anything?" Pepper appeared in the room after kicking her shoes off. "You hungry?"

Rebecca sighed. "No I'm fine, seriously."

"Okay, then. Well, I've got a bunch of paperwork to look over before this business tomorrow..."

"Then go do it." Rebecca gave her a smile. "You don't need to worry about me."

Pepper hesitated before nodding and grabbing up her files. "I think I'll go read them in bed, my feet are killing me. Let me know if you need anything."

"Pepper..." Rebecca whined.

"I know," Pepper held her hands up. "I just worry. I'll let you know when I'm leaving in the morning, okay? Goodnight."

"Goodnight Pepper."

Rebecca turned back to the television in time to catch some report on Hammer Industries before she groaned and switched it off. The house was silent. It was never like this, except on the rarest of occasions. There was no music blaring down in the workshop, no clanging of tools of the cement ground, no sounds of Tony whining as Pepper chased him with work or the sound of him and Rhodey disagreeing about something in general. Pepper had retreated to her room for the night, leaving Rebecca and her thoughts alone.

Sitting in the silence was beginning to feel depressing, so she gathered her crutches and slid them under her arms, making her way to stairs. It wasn't so hard getting down them on one leg, surprisingly. Since she had been restricted to only doing so much these last few weeks due to her knee rehabilitation, she had been spending a lot of time in the workshop. With Tony having to address the many issues with the government, fixing everything officially within the company and dealing with press, the workshop was all Rebecca's, including all the tech and tools down there.

"Jarvis, bring up the Mark I in my private file." Rebecca commanded, taking her seat in the chair before she had to input her password on the system.

It was only a way to pass the time, a little idea that had been playing around in her head for a while now, and at first she thought nothing of it. However, as her design grew more and more realistic and she added her own features to the prototype suit, she couldn't help feel somewhere in the corner of her mind that this could actually happen.

* * *

"Mr. Stark." Senator Stern called out to the man whose back was currently facing him rudely. "Mr. Stark!" he called again, this time gaining his attention.

Tony was far too busy with turning around looking at Pepper and mouthing a conversation to be listening to the Senator's whining and pleas for answers.

"Yes, dear?" he turned around the face the panel of men before him in the senate, casting a charming smile toward the man in the middle who held the most authority.

"May I have you attention, please?"

Tony continued his smile as he nodded. "Absolutely."

All morning he had been listening to the Senator and his fellow powers claiming that the Iron Man suit was a real threat to the world and was too dangerous to be possessed by one man. They declared it was a weapon that harnessed too much power and were uncomfortable with Tony being in possession of such material, yet Tony stood his ground.

"My priority is to get the Iron Man weapon turned over to the people of the United States of America." Senator Stern announced confidently.

Tony didn't have to think twice before answering. "Well, you can forget it." he stated bluntly. "I am Iron Man. The suit and I are _one_. To turn over the Iron Man suit would be to turn over myself, which is tantamount to indentured servitude or prostitution, depending on what state you're in." he hit hand down on the table. "You can't have it."

Senator Stern looked taken aback, having just witnessed Tony's dedication to fight for the suit along with his quick wit.

"Look, I'm no expert..."

"In prostitution? Of course not. You're a senator. Come on." Tony rolled his eyes, enjoying the fact he had induced an eruption of laughter from the people within the Senate. He turned in his seat again, ignoring Senator Stern to see if Pepper was laughing as well, and to his enjoyment, she had a tight smirk on her face, signalling for him to turn around again.

More comments were made, and Senator Stern continued on his path of somehow justifying why the government had the right to his property just because they wanted it. To do so, a military personnel was required to read a statement they had written in reference to the Iron Man suit and if it posed a potential threat. The man picked for this job was Colonel James Rhodes.

Rhodey read specific sections of his report which the Senator had highlighted especially to outline the negative impacts of the Iron Man suit, but Rhodey went on the defend Tony and stated that the positives far outweighed those negatives, earning him an ushering from the Senator. It was then that Senator Stern introduced, who he referred to as a expect, Mr. Justin Hammer of Hammer Industries. Tony always had a dislike toward Hammer, and he had no restraint to let out a few comments on his 'expertise'.

Hammer walked out in front of the Senate in his expensive suit and leather shoes, microphone in hand, and explained just how dangerous the Iron Man suit was and the potential threat it had upon the world if used improperly.

"Mr Stark has built a sword, yet he insists on using it as a shield!"

The main concern though, was the fear that anyone else around the world would try to replicate this technology, even though they didn't possess the power of the arc reactor. Tony, however, retaliated by showing footage of other countries' numerous failed attempts of making such a suit, and finished with the footage of Justin Hammer's failed attempt himself.

"I think we're done with the point that he's making. I don't think there's any reason..." Senator Stern spoke as Hammer rushed over to the screens and disconnected them.

"The point is you're welcome, I guess." Tony shrugged.

The Senator seemed confused. "For what?"

"Because I'm your nuclear deterrent. It's working. We're safe. America is secure. You want my property? You can't _have_ it." he hit hands on the table, emphasizing each word. "But I did you a big favor." Tony stood from his chair, turning to face the Senate instead of Stern. "I've successfully privatized world peace. What more do you want? For now! I tried to play ball with these ass-clowns." The crowd cheered and clapped, showering Tony with praise since every word he said was in fact true.

Senator Stern, on the other hand, didn't share their praise. "F*** you, Mr. Stark. F*** you, buddy." he smiled annoyingly as the cameras continued rolling. "We're adjourned for the day. You've been a delight."

* * *

Rebecca sat on the chair in the workshop the next morning when she finally awoke from her sleep-in, watching the news closely for the live-stream of Tony's hearing at the Senate. She could see reporters all around the building and she knew the coverage would start soon.

"Mr. Tony Stark of Stark Industries who is famously known for his alter ego of Iron Man is today facing the Senate on claims that his high-tech suit is a major threat-"

Rebecca tuned out the reporter's voice, waiting until she finally seen her father on screen. She couldn't help laugh at the Senator's attempts to gain Tony's attention. She listened closely as Senator Stern argued that the suit should be turned over to the government, hardly believing that they thought they deserved it. It's like nothing made those people happy. Tony had sorted out a lot of stuff between countries on behalf oh the government, thanks to the suit, and they still believed it was too dangerous for one man to handle.

While she listened, she pulled a screwdriver from her desk drawer and twirled a few screws into the wrist attachment she had been working on for something to do, realizing she had actually gotten pretty far in the production and couldn't stop herself from continuing. It was like this little project, which she initially started because she was so bored from being stuck on those damn crutches, was beginning to turn into a serious thing for her. There was no way Tony would even consider letting Rebecca wear one of these things considering how dangerous they were, he had only ever permitted her to try the repulsers and that one off time she could see what it was was like to fly around the workshop. Rebecca was only one of the two people in the world who could make those suits, using the proper technology and having access to the arc reactor, and she could easily create one herself. Se couldn't though, her dad would never allow it, but when she seen how much he was going through with the government and everyone thinking he was such a danger, she needed to help him. Creating another suit probably wouldn't be the best way to assist him right now, but she needed to know she had access to something when it was needed, he couldn't do it all by himself. She probably wouldn't even use it, but she couldn't stop now, it was becoming more than an idea to her.

* * *

A few hours had passed and Rebecca made her way back upstairs to he kitchen in hopes to find something decent enough to eat. Tony wasn't the best cook, so the less ingredients there were for him to mix the better, although Rebecca wasn't too bad at making a nice meal, granted it be a simple one. The phone startled her when it began ringing, and she hobbled over to the counter to answer.

"So you're still alive." Tony acknowledged. "See, I wouldn't _know_ considering you haven't called."

Rebecca cringed, pulling a face. She had completely forgot about the deal she made to call him ever three hours, she was too lost in her little project.

"I...I totally forgot." she sighed. "Sorry."

"It was our deal, how could you forget it? It's just a phone call, each three hours, is that so hard? I don't like you being there alone, especially since _everyone_ else is here.'' he explained.

''I know, dad.'' she nodded. ''I just forgot, that's all. I don't _try_ to make you worried, if anything I try to do the opposite.''

''Hey, _I'm_ the father here, and I am allowed to worry more than anyone else about their daughter.'' he pointed out. ''And it's not like you've got the best track record for keeping my mind at ease now, do you?.''

What Tony had intended as a joke, Rebecca had taken as yet another reason to continue her current project, adding to her list. She hated always being the one that everyone had to make sure was safe first. Tony always put her first, that wasn't going to change and she appreciated everything he done for her, but he couldn't do anything for himself without worrying that she was going to get hurt again, or someone was going to target her, again. The fact her dad couldn't have a moment of peace these days because of everything that had gone on with her since that night six months ago, it made her feel like such a burden, an endless worry for him, and he already had way to much to be focusing on.

''Yeah...'' she forced a slight laugh. ''I guess not.''

Tony spoke a while longer, asking if she'd seen what happened at the Senate and he made a few more remarks about Justin Hammer. Rebecca made it clear she was listening, but her mind was far from the conversation, dwelling on other things that were overloading her at the moment.

''I'll be home tonight.''

Rebecca was then brought back to the conversation. ''What? I thought you weren't _leaving_ until tonight?''

''Uh yeah, change of plans.''

Rebecca sighed again. ''Please don't tell me it's because _I'm_ here alone.''

Tony paused for a moment. ''No, I'm just sick of this place.''

''You can't lie to me.''

''Hey, believe what you want. I'll see you when I get back, okay? ''

Rebecca sat the phone back down on the counter and contemplated her current options. Lunch was no longer on her mind, instead it was on those stairs in front of her, and the room at the end. For weeks she had been working on this, just playing around with the idea, and now it was as if she needed to do it, and not only for herself.

* * *

**Well, there you go guys! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I got a bit caught up in explaining things I think, but nevertheless I hope I didn't disappoint. The whole Rebecca and the suit thing will be continuing for a while, but I promise it will get better if you're not interested in the whole idea yet, at least I hope. Thanks for following this story to the sequel by the way, it's much appreciated! I also have that one-shot series where I take requests for whatever you guys want to read about! Please leave a review, I really want to know if you guys are liking the story so far and where it's going, so thank you!**


	3. Chapter 3

Rebecca had spent most of the day down in the workshop once again, running simulations on the computers and setting up an assemble of the suit, even though it was still theoretical at the moment, she hadn't gone as far as to prepare metals for production. As well as that, she had also began work on the old car that she had initially began fixing before any of this even happened. It was a way to explain the time she spent down here, and a cover story if she intended to go through will building the suit.

It was almost eight and Rebecca was lying on the couch, almost dozing off, when she heard the front door open and her dad's voice booming into the room with Pepper in tow.

"Oh look, the house isn't burnt down." Tony joked, mocking the same reaction he received from Rebecca any time he was alone in the house all day.

"I know, shocking." Rebecca mumbled before letting out a loud yawn.

"Well, you look like you've had a productive day." Pepper commented on her lazy position with her legs thrown over the armrests of the couch.

"So, how was...everything." Rebecca asked, preparing herself from some epic speech from her dad on his story of events.

"Great, it's all-"

"It was pointless." Pepper cut in, throwing a hand to Tony as if everything he was about to say would be an exaggerated recount of lies. "All the way to Washington to speak with the Senator, and then your father acts like a child in a classroom and gets the whole thing adjourned."

Rebecca couldn't help crack a smile at Pepper's glare she directed the Tony when he tried to defend himself. She had noticed how their relationship had changed since everything had happened, and it brought them closer. Rebecca always suspected something more going on between Pepper and her father, but they were like shy children who couldn't admit their crush to each other, it was too complicated to dwell on.

"I saw most of the uh, situation, on the news. As well as Justin Hammer trying to redeem himself after you showed his hopeless attempt at a suit." Rebecca told them.

Tony laughed. "The government's in real trouble if they take his 'expertise' seriously. He's an attention seeker, he'll do anything for a bit of publicity, loves it." Pepper raised an eyebrow at his description of Hammer, making it clear it sounded a lot like someone else. "Don't even think of comparing me with Justin Hammer. He's a money-hungry fraud. Takes other peoples weapons, pretties them up and says their his."

Pepper raised her hands in defeat, knowing she had touched a nerve when Tony began rambling about how much he disliked Hammer and all he stood for. Instead, she walked over to the couch next to Rebecca and took a seat.

"Only two more days, and that comes off." she pointed toward the bandages tightly wrapped around her leg, the screws and metal rods all around it.

Rebecca smiled. "Can't wait."

"Just in time for Monaco." Tony added, relaxing into the chair across from them.

"We're not going to Monaco for another week yet." Pepper reminded him.

"Oh." Tony's expression changed. "Hm, too bad. I was looking forward to it."

"You've got way too much work to be excited for that. There's-"

"No, no." Tony held his finger up to his lips. "No more work stuff today. Tomorrow."

Pepper sighed. "Fine, just be prepared, there's a lot. Anyway, I better not keep Happy waiting." she stood up, straightening her dress. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"G'night Pepper." Rebecca called as she walked down the hallway.

When the front door clicked shut, they both let out a relaxed sigh, knowing they had nothing to do for the rest of the night. No work, no press to worry about, no pesky reporters or Expo coverage, just nothing. They laid there on the couches, staring into the ceiling.

"Why does the government hate Iron Man so much?" Rebecca asked in the silence.

"They don't_ hate_ Iron Man. They just _want_ it. They want the technology, they want the power, they want the glory." Tony explained. "Don't worry, they won't get their hands on it."

"How do you handle them? They're basically ganging up on you, it's not fair." she turned her head, looking over to him.

Tony shrugged his shoulders. "There's nothing I can do to stop it. All I can do is stand up to them, and I know they won't win."

"How?"

"Because there is _no_ other way. I _won't_ hand over the suit, they're not touching it." he spoke confidently.

"I couldn't do it." Rebecca shook her head. "I couldn't put up with them being so...ungrateful for what you've done for them. I just want to help you."

Tony turned and looked back at her. "I know, but there's nothing you can do. You already help me by just being here, that's all I need."

* * *

The next morning Tony was straight down to the workshop to get back into his routine. There was no Expo business to deal with today, nor any government issues he needed to attend, and so long as he avoided Pepper for the most part, he would have no work to do.

"Check palladium levels." Tony instructed as he pricked his finger, holding it down onto the device.

"Blood toxicity is up to 24%. It seems the continued use of the suit is worsening your condition." Jarvis informed him.

Tony pulled out a small wooden case and lifted the lid to reveal a row of palladium cores, all new and ready to go. Since he found out about the damage that was being done, he made sure there was enough stocked up for an easy switch over. Tony lifted his shirt up and detached the arc reactor from his chest, pulling out the current core and looked at it with concern as the smoke rose from it.

"Another core has been depleted"

"Man, they're running out quick." Tony commented as he put the new palladium core into the arc reactor and attached it back into his chest.

"Unfortunately the device that is keeping you alive, is also killing you." Jarvis informed him, showing a mirrored view of the visible symptoms on Tony's chest which had made its way up to his neck.

Tony had already tried a combination of all of the known elements, but none of them were strong enough to keep him alive, and the palladium cores were wasting away too fast for his liking. He was alreading drinking a less than tasty mixture to slow down the symptoms, but he couldnt rely on that forever. It wasn't be first time he thought this, but right now he wondered how long he had left before the worst was to happen. He couldn't die, not now, not after what he'd survived, not when he had so much more to live for. He promised Rebecca he would never leave her, he couldn't die, he just couldn't.

"Ms. Potts is approaching." Jarvis's voice pulled him back from his thoughts. "I suggest you inform her-"

"Mute." Tony ignored him, preparing himself for the wrath of Pepper and her handful of files.

"Are you insane? What were you thinking?" she walked through the door, sounding a lot angrier than Tony was expecting.

"Hey, I'm thinking your mad...about something." he got up, beginning to walk further into the workshop, knowing all to well she'd follow him anyway. "Do you have the sniffles? I don't wanna get sick."

As Tony walked around the room, cleaning up his hologram files, which was the only thing he managed to keep relatively organised in his life, Pepper continued to ramble about the apparent endless list of work he needed to do. She was obviously frustrated, and Tony's personality wasn't the best in making her feel better about things. There was so much he needed to do, but he didn't want to hear it. He had no interest in running the company at the moment, or recently, or at all.

"Tell you what, how 'bout _you_ do it?" Tony proposed while she was in the middle of scolding him again, and he wasn't sure if she'd heard him. "Y'know, running the company."

"Yeah, I'm_ trying_ to run the company but..." Pepper went on about her frustrations as Tony tried to speak over her.

Nothing was audible, it was all a mush of their words, nothing was understandable. There were so many times when they would end up like this, refusing to let he other have the final word, but neither admitting they needed to do something.

"Pepper! You're not listening to me!" Tony's voice managed to reach over the top of his. "I'm trying me make you CEO." Pepper stopped, catching onto his words. "Why won't you let me?"

Pepper stared back at him with a suspicious look, her eyes narrowing on his and she assessed him.

"Have you been drinking?"

Another tiny argument ensued as Pepper refused to believe he was thinking rationally, but he ensured he was. She was the only person he felt he could trust with everything he had. He also thought Obadiah was someone he could trust more than anyone, and he wanted the company more than anyone else. Pepper, on the other hand, never asked anything of Tony. She supported him in everything and stood by all his decisions, she was the right choice.

"It's you." he assured when she kept pushing the idea that he was making a mistake. "It's _always_ been you."

Pepper's lips tugged into a smile at his words, and they both knew there was something else behind them. The way he looked at her when she accepted the offer, it as like he had just made the best decision, and she knew she wouldn't disappoint him.

* * *

"Pepper, this is not the way you want to spend your first day as CEO." Rebecca gave her a look as she laid back on the uncomfortable bed in her doctors office.

Pepper shook her head. "I'm not CEO yet, it's not official. Besides, this is more important."

Rebecca sighed. "It's not. What's the use of taking off all of this if I won't be able to walk anyway? These bolts are still in my leg, staples over the stitches which will need to come out, and then more physical therapy."

Pepper frowned. "You need to be more positive. One step at a time."

"If I can even _take_ a step at all."

Rebecca knew she was being pessimistic about the whole situation, but she only seen it for what it was, she wasn't going to pretend it would all be fixed in a day, it wasn't possible. Pepper had stayed positive though, trying to cheer Rebecca up, but all she did was manage to get a slight smile on her face. Rebecca had gone against Tony's plans to accompany her to the doctors, insisting he didn't need to be there. Tony knew how miserable Rebecca had been since having the frame on her leg and not being able to do anything as well as being cooped up in the house all the time, but he still put up a fight to join her. In the end, he relented and stayed at the house due to Rebecca's seriously bad mood, but felt better about Pepper going along with her.

"I just want to go home." Rebecca whined. "I'm sick of this."

"I know." Pepper held her hands on Rebecca's arm. "It's getting better though."

"Ah, hello there Miss. Stark." Doctor Jeffery walked into the room. "How are you feeling?"

Rebecca groaned. "Just get this off me."

Dr. Jeffery chuckled, rolling his chair over to assess the metals that were adjusted into her knee joint. "That bad, huh? Well, let's see if we can make your day better and get these out." He slid on his gloves and glasses, leaning in closer to the bolts and feeling through her skin at them. "Seems like the tissue has healed well." The X-Ray was on the wall, stuck to the monitor, and he nodded his head, satisfied. "I'd say these pesky little things are okay to take out now."

"Really? Today?" Rebecca asked with an excited voice.

"Certainly." he smiled.

"Doctor, about the physical therapy..." Pepper asked. "How long will it take to get full use of the joint back?"

"Well, depending on how Rebecca handles the feeling of walking on her leg once again, it could take a few sessions to get enough use to walk around. But until then, I suggest using the crutches until you feel you might me able to apply pressure. Its healed, thanks to the weeks of decreased mobility, but you still need to be careful." Dr. Jeffery explained, smiling confidently.

"So...I'll be able to walk on it?" Rebecca's smile grew.

"Of course. Just not too soon, and like I said, you may need to be on the crutches for a while...just to get used to it."

Rebecca was still smiling, although the idea of being on crutches a while longer wasn't appealing. She was so sick of all the drama about her leg, she wanted to walk freely again, even run, but the idea that lingered at the back of her mind the most was being able to use the thrusters she had designed, being able to test things she wanted to add to the suit, just having the ability to do more than she was. This whole idea was taking over her life, she needed to do it, she needed to at least try.

* * *

Tony walked around the house aimlessly after doing what he needed to do down in the workshop, although all of that work was never actually done, he had had enough. Enough of running the same tests he had over a dozen times trying to find an alternative to palladium, but coming back with nothing, and he felt stupid that he even held some sort of hope considering he had run the test so many times before.

"I'm home." Rebecca called out from the front door, limping in on her crutches. "Pepper's gone to the company, needed to sort some things out."

Tony seen she was on crutches still, but her leg was completely free of all metal rods and bolts, so he took that as a good sign.

"How'd you go? Is everything okay?" he asked as he walked over to her.

"Yeah, I guess. I can't walk on it." she looked so disappointed. "I need a few therapy sessions, but, uh...other than that, I'm on these things." she swung around her crutches.

Tony tried to give her a comforting smile. "You'll get there in no time."

"I'd rather now." she laughed lightly. "I'm so tired of...of not being able to do anything."

"I know it sucks, but you'll be okay, promise." he walked with her into the kitchen. "Tell you what, I'll even cook dinner tonight."

Rebecca forced a smile as he waited for her response. "Uh, okay, sure." She knew she would regret that, she'd probably get food poisoning or throw up.

"Great." he pulled out a bunch of take-out brochures and spread them across the bench. "Take your pick."

Rebecca's lips grew a huge smile, laughing at her dad's consideration. "You're not that terrible of a cook."

Tony gave her a look. "You can't lie to me."

"I'm not even going to defend that." she laughed.

"Ouch." he pretended to be insulted, picking up the brochures and looking through them. "Chinese? No. Italian? No. Thai? Hmm, maybe."

After their dinner had been delivered, it was just like old times in the Stark household. Take-out dinner, lounging around on the couches and watching movies. They didn't even bother switching the television to normal programs, knowing that there would be a least two reports on something either something Stark Industries related or Iron Man related. Rebecca felt slightly guilty, sitting on the couch with her dad, knowing that he had no idea of her intentions to plan out a suit for herself. She wished she could explain to him why she needed to do it and why she wanted to, because it all revolved around trying to help him. He couldn't keep doing this by himself, he was being targeted by the whole world, one day it was going to take it's toll and she wouldn't be able to live with herself if she didn't at least try.

At the same time, Tony felt just the same amount of guilt, possibly more. He wanted to tell Rebecca what was happening to him, why he was trying to make the most of things. Of all people, Rebecca could be the one to help him find a way to create a new mixture of elements to help him survive, but he just couldn't. He couldn't bare the thought of seeing her face when he told her, of scaring her. That's why he hadn't told Pepper either. They were all he had, he couldn't do it to them.

"You okay?" Tony asked when Rebecca continued staring at the wall.

"Hmm?" she turned to him. "Im just tired, watched too many movies lately."

"Oh so _that's_ why you forgot to call me all those times?" Tony pieced together.

"You got me." she laughed as she grabbed her crutches, but Tony got up and lifted her to a standing position, and she couldn't have felt more like an invalid. "Thanks."

* * *

Tony made sure Rebecca made it to her bedroom alright before making his way back down to the workshop and running that same test again, it was like an obsession. Each time he knew the outcome, but he felt the more he did it maybe the system would pick up on something they missed before.

"Sir, I have run the same test four times today, there is no change." Jarvis informed him.

"I don't want to hear it Jarvis," Tony hit the screen on his computer, sorting different elements into sections. "just run 'em."

"Very well, sir." Jarvis obeyed.

Tony sat back and watched as the screen scrambled through different elements, becoming more familiar with combinations, and the red crosses that kept flashing up as none of them met what he was looking for. He pushed himself back on his chair in anger and spun himself around to face the wall lined with his suits. His fingers tapped away at the arc reactor in his chest, and he had the horrible feeling he was counting down the minutes he had left. His daughter, upstairs in bed, with no idea that her father was down here searching for something to keep him alive, and that he didn't know how to save himself, he was losing hope.

* * *

**Oh god, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, it's not my favourite. I needed to fill in a few things that were happening in build up for the next chapter as I didn't want to jump straight to what would be happening in the next one and I think this was a bit slow and boring, so I apologize for that. Next chapter will be a lot more interesting, and a few more developments, and hopefully you will really enjoy it. I have already planned future chapters for this story, I have the plot and everything set out in my head, I just hope I can make it as exciting as possible for you to read. Anyway, please review and let me know what you think, I love hearing from you all! Remember to read my one-shot series if you'd like and request whatever you'd like to read!**


	4. Chapter 4

"Okay, ow, just do it again, c'mon." Rebecca gave herself a pep-talk as she sat back down on the edge of her bed.

She had woken up early for some reason and was trying to walk properly on her knee. The idea of going to physical therapy was not at all appealing, she hated hospitals and doctors and people telling her how to do things, she'd much rather do it all herself. Slowly, she extended her knee outwards to stretch the joint before she sat it back on the ground and pulled herself up with one of her crutches. It was okay for now, but probably because all her weight was on the other leg instead, so she moved to balance the weight. As more pressure was applied, she could feel the pain creeping into her knee and bit down on her lip. Ignoring the pain, she moved her other leg forward and took a small step, and then another, and another. It hurt more than she thought, but she managed to walk to her door and back, gasping as she sat back down.

"Well," she breathed. "Wasn't too bad."

"Bec?" Tony's voice came from the door, knocking on it lightly.

"Yeah?"

Tony pushed the door open, peaking around the corner. "Were you talking to yourself?"

"Uh, yeah, I was." she nodded. "Self-encouragement. I've been trying to get the hang of walking properly again."

"Don't push yourself." he warned. "You didn't go through all of that to rush things at the end."

"I'm not, I just want to walk without these stupid things." she kicked at the crutches on the floor. "I hate them."

Tony sighed and sat down next to her. "It's been a long six months, I know, and it hasn't been easy. You didn't deserve this, I wish you didn't have to suffer because of...him, what he done to you." Tony didn't say Obadiah's name.

"I'm just glad _you're_ okay. I can handle this, no problem, if it means that you're not dead because of him. I could do this hundreds of times if it meant you didn't have to get hurt." she confessed. "Because all I want to remember about that night is that you survived, not this." she looked down at her leg. "What I'm saying is...this might be making me suffer, but it's nothing compared to how I'd be if anything happened to you."

Tony should have been smiling at that, he should have been proud that he survived for her, he should have given her the biggest hug and told her everything was going to be okay from now on, but his chest felt heavy with guilt at the secret he was keeping from her. Guilty that, while she was sitting there telling him she wouldn't know what to do if he hadn't survived that, he was slowly dying, and she had no idea.

* * *

"Tony?" Pepper's voice made it into the living room as she only just opened the front door.

Tony popped his head out from behind the kitchen wall, smiling at her. "Hello there Ms. Potts, CEO of Stark Industries." he formally greeted her.

Pepper couldn't help grinning at her new title. "Well, it's not completely official _yet_...but it almost is."

"Sure is. You feel the pressure yet? You gonna crack?" he asked eagerly, trying to scare her with all of the responsibility.

Pepper shook her head confidently. "If I can handle taking care of_ you_ for this long, I can handle anything." she took a seat on the barstool at the kitchen counter. "Speaking of taking care of you, here."

Tony raised an eyebrow at the file Pepper pushed toward him. It was three inches thick and bulging with little post it notes for extra important pages. He wondered what it was, so he flicked open the front page and seen a table of contents titled _"Job Description. Warning: Be Prepared."_

"Oh..." he nodded. "I'm gonna need some explaining."

Pepper rolled her eyes. "It's for the lucky soul who becomes your personal assistant soon." she handed him a few resumés. "There's a few people lined up, I have them on call for interviews and meetings whenever you're available."

Tony didn't like this. Getting a new personal assistant was not something he ever considered doing, he never pictured being without Pepper before, and he only just realised that she would no longer be there for him. She would be too busy running the company. He didn't want a stranger replacing Pepper, he didn't want anyone else but Pepper at all.

"On second thoughts, you're fired from CEO." he stated, pushing the file back to her. "Everything goes back to normal, no changes."

"Tony, you need a new assistant. You've got way too many things to keep up with on your own." Pepper explained, ignoring her dismissal.

"Do _not_." he argued childishly. "Why can't you do it?"

Pepper's eyes widened. "I'm running a company now Tony, a _company_. I can't do both, you need to find someone else, and soon, because all of this Expo business just makes you very busy man."

Tony frowned. "Why bother? I won't like any of them, they'll do everything wrong, they'll make me do things I don't want to, and did I mention that I won't like any of them?"

"I'll still be here for you Tony, always, and for Rebecca too. Nothing else is changing apart from me not being your P.A any more." Pepper assured him. "Just..take a look at the resumes, let me know what you think and I'll organize it for you, okay?"

Tony pulled a face like a five year old and took the resumes, pushing them aside, postponing actually looking over them. "Fine, but I'm telling you now, I won't like them."

"And I'm sure they'll love you." she smiled at her jab.

* * *

Tony was down in the workshop once again early the next morning, running the same test again II I habit and running a diagnostics on al of his suits, making sure everything was still in order. It would take a while to adjust to not hearing Pepper's voice coming down the staircase and booming into the room each morning after Tony had avoided doing something or had done something stupid. Instead it was just silence for most of the morning while Tony checked his blood toxicity once again and fitted his arc reactor with a new palladium core, until Happy's voice came over intercom.

"I'm here boss." he spoke happily. "We doing this or what?"

"Meet you in the training room." Tony replied.

He had been boxing a lot lately, training, keeping fit and trying to gain and maintain his health. Happy was always glad to help out, and he was an excellent opponent since he was so easily challenged, he couldn't stand being proven wrong about the sport or being beaten without 'best of three'.

Tony checked the diagnostics report and cancelled the test that had once again come back with no change or development. He filled his drink bottle with the dark liquid he was forcing himself to drink each day, upping the ounces each time to counteract the symptoms and hopefully help those nasty veiny-looking side effects fade away, and then he for changed into suitable clothing before finally making his way to his personal gym.

"You see, the trick is to know the opponents weaknesses, then pinpoint the main attacks that will focus on those weaknesses."

Tony walked into the room to discover Happy leaning on the boxing ring corners, giving Rebecca a lecture. He found himself thinking that if anything happened to Tony, if this condition really was the end of him and he couldn't find a way to survive, that Happy would be there to look out for Rebecca, just as Rhodey would be, and Pepper. He hated the fact that ever since he found out about the palladium slowly killing him, his mind turned all of these relatively cheerful moments into something depressing.

"Another trick that's crucial is to-"

"Hey, quit teaching my daughter how to turn herself into a weapon." Tony cut in, sliding his boxing gloves onto his hands.

"It's simple self-defense, these tricks are important when being faced by an attacker." Happy defended, making his serious face. He really did take the sport seriously, although when taking his figure and fitness into account, he obviously wasn't a regular in it. "It could save your life."

Rebecca nodded, showing him that she was taking his tips on board. "You'll have to show me one day."

"I couldn't hurt a girl." he shook his head. "It's far too dangerous for you to get in the ring with me." Happy sounded like a heavyweight champion.

Tony took his chance and kicked his leg out under Happy's, sending him straight to the floor on his back. "Hey, wasn't that your #1 most crucial lesson? 'Never take your eyes off your opponent.'" Tony reminded him arrogantly.

Happy gasped for air, recovering from the initial shock of being knocked flat on his back. "Good work boss," Happy pretended to be okay and instead praised Tony for taking advantage of his momentum. "Nice to see you taking my lessons on board."

Rebecca stood back next to the ring, a muffled laugh coming from her mouth as she tried, and failed, to cover up her amusement at the two.

"This might seem funny, but your dad has a point. Like I have said many times, _never_ take your eye-"

Happy gasped as Tony took advantage of the moment once again, repeating the same movement and watching as Happy went back to the ground. All he heard was Rebecca laughing wildly and Tony chuckling at the situation.

Happy pulled himself up into a sitting position on the mat and caught his breath. "Okay, moving on...to a different...lesson." he managed to croak out.

* * *

Rebecca was sitting around the gym on the comfy chairs by the side, listening to Happy and Tony argue about the rules of boxing and what was considered cheating. It was a fairly humorous conversation to listen to, especially when Happy became overly defensive about the whole thing.

It had been almost an hour and Happy's grey shirt was now covered in dark blotches where he was sweating, clearing coming out second best to Tony. He had decided to out on a head brace, protecting himself from the numerous hits he was getting from Tony's gloved fists.

"Tony, can you take a minute?" Pepper walked into the room with a file in her hand. "Natalie's here."

Following into the room behind her was a red-haired woman, very beautiful and dressed very proper. She didn't say a word as she walked in, instead letting Pepper choose the right moment to introduce her.

"I promise this is the only time I will ask you to sign over your company." Pepper told Tony as his attention fixed on the other woman, wondering who she was.

"Name?" he asked, pointing toward her.

"Rushman." The woman answered. "Natalie Rushman."

"Come on up." he lifted the ropes around the boxing ring, inviting her him.

Natalie looked back at Pepper who had an unimpressed look on her face. "No, Tony." she told him. "Listen, you don't have to-"

"It's fine." Natalie smiled, handling the file she was holding to Pepper.

Rebecca watched as the woman walked toward the ring, capturing both Happy and her dad's attention, and she wondered if she was his new assistant. Rebecca didn't like the change either, she wouldn't ever be comfortable with someone else in their house like that, only Pepper.

When Natalie stepped inside the ring, Tony just looked back at her for a moment silently before stepping out, leaving her with Happy. "Give her a lesson." he suggested, walking away. "Who is she?" he took a seat next to Pepper.

"She is from legal and she is potentially a_ very_ expensive sexual harassment lawsuit if you keep ogling her like that." she warned.

Tony ignored her banter. "How do you spell your name, Natalie?" he called out.

"R-U-S-H-M-A-N." Natalie replied.

Pepper looked over to the interface he was typing her name into. "What, are you Googling her now?"

"I thought I was ogling her?" Tony joked, knowing he was somehow annoying Pepper.

They flicked through her resumé quickly and Tony immediately noticed she had modelled after finding her photos online after a simple search. She spoke fluently in many other languages, had the right qualifications and was insane enough to accept the job description. Pepper had other applicants lined up ready ro meet, but she already knew Tony had made his decision.

"You ever done this?" Happy asked Natalie as she watched Tony and Pepper talk about her.

Rebecca switched topics to listen to, ignoring Pepper and Tony's pointless conversation about other potentials and began listening in on Happy and Natalie's as she was closer to them.

Natalie smiled. "Uh, yeah I've had some practice."

Happy was enjoying talking to her, and was even more thrilled that she knew a little about the sport he prided himself in knowing the history of.

"See? That's always lesson number one." Happy began as Natalie's attention went back to Tony and Pepper. "Always keep an eye on your oppone-"

Happy was cut off as he threw his hand at her, trying to suprise her since she wasn't paying attention, but her hand whipped around and soon he was on the ground after being tackled by her legs. Clearly, she had had a lot more practice than she had lead on.

"Oh my god, Happy!" Pepper squealed, getting up and walked over.

"Whoa!" Both Rebecca and Tony's eyes widened with suprise before laughing.

"I slipped." Happy lied, piling himself up as Rebecca even walked over to observe his defenseless position.

"Yeah, that's what happened." Rebecca spoke sarcastically.

Natalie walked away from the ring unbothered by everyone's shock at her ability. She kicked on her shoes, walking over to pick up the file she needed and them headed over to Tony.

"I need your impression." she told him, opening the file.

Tony seemed confused. "You have a quiet reserve. I don't know...you have an old soul..."

"I _meant_ your fingerprint." she corrected, smiling at his misinterpretation.

"Right." he looked down, smearing his finger in ink and then pressing it to the allocated box. "You're the boss." he looked to Pepper with a confident smile.

"Thank you." Pepper smiled back.

Natalie folded the file up, placing it back under her arm. "Wil that be all Mr. Stark?"

"No-"

"Yes." Pepper spoke for him. "That will be all, thank you Ms. Rushman."

Rebecca smiled at Pepper's interuption, knowing there was a hint of jealousy in there even though she covered it up with her professionalism during the situation. As Natalie nodded and turned around, both Tony and Pepper watched her leave.

"I want one." Tony turned to Pepper like a child.

"_No_." she answered before giving him a smile, enjoying the power she had over him.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter guys! I really wanted to bring 'Natalie' into this now so that next chapter wouldn't be so over the place. It will get better from here on in I presume, now that I have most of what I need set up. Hope you continue to read and enjoy! Please review and let me know what you think. Thanks for reading!**


	5. Chapter 5

Rebecca was still only just getting the hang of walking around the house without her crutches. It had been a few days since she had the nasty metal removed from her leg, and she had been to two physiotherapy sessions. She had found plenty of time to resume her little project in the workshop since Tony had been caught up in Expo business and all of the formalities that needed to be addressed now that Pepper was CEO of Stark Industries. Rebecca was always curious as the whether Tony searched the computer systems for anything irregular as he used to, but she was sure to store all of her information and diagrams on a ghost drive.

"Miss. Stark, there is a delivery at the front door." Jarvis informed her, just as he had been instructed to.

Rebecca clapped in excitement, hungry for the pizza she ordered. "Thank you."

After making it up the stairs, the doorbell had rung for the third time and she was sure that the delivery person would leave before she got to the door, or they'd be pretty frustrated, so she hurried her pace, alternating between limping and hopping before she reached the door.

"Sorry 'bout that," she apologized when she opened the door, recognizing the delivery boy when he turned around. "Ben? Ben White?"

He paused for moment, almost surprised she remembered him. "Y-yeah, hey, you remember me?"

"Of course I remember you!" Rebecca hit his arm. "How could you even _ask_ that?"

Ben was a school friend of Rebecca's, he was in the group she associated with, and they hadn't seen each other since Rebecca left school. He was a nice guy, and she remembered having moments where she missed him specifically, simply because they could talk about anything.

Ben's lips turned up into a smile. "I just haven't seen you in so long, and what with your whole 'leaving school to get university master degrees and scholarships'. Plus, your kinda..._famous_ now.".

"Well, I'm not...I guess, but unfortunately, but I could never forget you guys! It's just...a little hard to juggle things." she sighed, wanting to change the subject. "How's school? How is everyone? I haven't heard from anyone in, well, a really long time."

"Yeah, no everyone's good, same old, same old." Ben informed her. "I just think they don't want to bother you. You've got such a...busy life, it's almost non-stop." Ben flustered. "Uh, I see you on the news and stuff, interviews."

Rebecca nodded. "Right, yeah I can't really escape those people. I've...uh, had a bit of a crazy year."

"I know. I tried to call you when...when all of that happened to your dad, but, uh, never really got through." he admitted.

"Seriously?" Rebecca asked, confused. "I never knew that. I'm sorry, I was...well, I wasn't coping." she looked at him sadly.

"Hey, don't worry about it." he shook his head. "I'm just glad everything's okay for you, I mean your dad's Iron Man now, so I guess it all worked out." he laughed.

"Yeah," Rebecca joined his laughter. "Just a bit of a change."

They continued to make small talk for a whole longer, catching up on the times they had missed together, to the point where Rebecca had invited him in to eat the pizza with her before it went cold.

"Monaco? _Really?_" Ben asked, surprised.

"Yeah, for the Grand Prix. Stark Industries has a car in the race, so, kinda need to show up." she explained.

A little longer into the conversation and Ben glanced over to his watch, noticing how long he had taken to deliver this one pizza, but the time had just slipped by as he enjoyed spending time with his friend.

"My boss is probably going to kill me for taking so long." he shrugged while picking up another piece of pizza.

Rebecca nodded. "Well, if he has a problem with you catching up with a friend, I'm sure I could call up and explain everything." she offered. "I mean, I've ordered _so_ many pizza's this year I think they wouldn't mind."

"No, no, it's fine." he insisted. "But I probably should go soon."

"How have we not run into each other before? I get pizza from you guys all the time." she wondered as she got up from the couch.

"I don't know." he shrugged. "But I'll be making sure I'm on delivery duty next time. This was fun, I've really missed hanging out."

"Yeah, me too. We need to hang out again soon, and I mean it, not like when people say 'let's do this again sometime', I actually mean it." Rebecca told him as they reached the door. "Okay then, I guess I'll see you...well, I don't know."

Ben reached into his pocket and grabbed the company a company business card and pen, writing on the back of it.

"Here." he handed it to her. "That's my number, just text me or call me one day, and we'll hang out."

Rebecca happily accepted the card and done the same with her number. "Just so we can get in contact with each other."

Ben smiled and stuck the piece of paper Rebecca handed him in his pocket. "Okay then, I'll see you again soon."

Rebecca smiled as Ben left, happy that she had caught up with someone she hadn't seen in such a long time. When you lived a life like she did, always in the spot light, it was hard to keep in contact with friends or even find people who weren't only interested in her name, but herself.

* * *

It was an unfamiliar voice that Rebecca heard in the kitchen that afternoon, and she set out to follow it. It was coming from the kitchen, and the closer she got, the more certain she was on who it was.

"I'm afraid Mr. Stark is set on that accommodation and there's to be no misunderstandings about that." Natalie's voice was firm as she spoke on the phone. "Mr. Stark. _Tony Stark_. Yes, so we're clear? Good."

Rebecca poked her head around the corner, looking over to the kitchen bench to see if her dad was anywhere in sight. After seeing it was only Natalie, she tried to hurry away from the doorway before being called back.

"Miss. Stark?" she called. "Are you prepared for the flight in the morning?"

Rebecca turned around. "Just call me Rebecca." she instructed. "And I'm ready, thanks for reminding me."

"I just want you to know," Natalie kept talking, keeping Rebecca from leaving the room. "that although I'm your father's assistant, I am available to help you as well. I'm here to completely fulfill Ms. Potts' role, so whatever you need, don't hesitate to ask me."

Although Natalie was being nothing but nice, Rebecca couldn't help feel that she wasn't genuine. The look in her eyes, it was clear she didn't care about helping Rebecca, she was just following the job description. There was no way she could possibly replace Pepper, no one could.

"Thanks," Rebecca smiled politely. "It's good to know."

Rebecca walked out of the kitchen after finishing the conversation with Natalie, walking through the house in search of her dad, and she couldn't help feel sad that Pepper was no longer sitting in the living room filling out forms, or calling out to Tony when she couldn't find him, or sitting at the kitchen bench on her laptop, instead that role was being overtaken by a stranger.

After failing to find him in any of the rooms, she knew he would be in the workshop as he usually would be when he couldn't be found. As she walked down the stairs, she could hear the clinking on metals and tools.

"What's the newest upgrade?" she immediately asked when she saw him working on a piece at his work bench.

"Transforming." he smiled. "Made it into a case, transformable, easy to access, easy to transport."

Rebecca smiled, impressed. "Where'd that idea come from?"

"The fact that the suits can't fly all the way to Monaco if I need them. So I'll take it as a carry on." Tony explained. "Besides, I don't want any Iron Man business there, it'll just give the government more on me. So the easier I can make taking it there, the better."

"Mm, I see they're still trying to take your collection." she looked around the room at the range of Iron Man suits.

"I'm not giving it over to them, so I don't know how they think they're going to get them."

"They _won't_." Rebecca spoke confidently, just as her dad had.

* * *

Tony continued working on the case until it was completely ready, even testing it a few times to make sure it assembled perfectly. Security on the case was a priority since the whole world would most likely expect him to have one nearby, so a special key was cut to open it, and only Pepper, Happy or Tony would possess it.

After Rebecca had left the workshop to make sure she was properly packed and ready for the morning flight, Tony began another test for elements.

"Open the new program, run the test." Tony instructed.

Again, nothing was found. It was becoming harder to even hold hope for himself after experiencing so many failed attempts to save himself. It made him feel like everyday was his last as his blood toxicity rose higher and higher, although the mixture he created was helping, but only slightly. He wanted to tell Rebecca, just in case it was too late and something happened, but not yet, after they went to Monaco. They needed a break, they deserved that much.

* * *

"Stark Industries, can I help you?" The woman's voice answered politely.

Rebecca had retreated to her room late that evening and decided to call Pepper at work and see how everything was going, although it was mostly because she missed talking to her throughout the day.

"Pepper Potts please." she requested.

"I'm sorry, but may I ask what this is in regards to?"

Rebecca knew how this worked. The receptionists never let pointless calls through, they'd block up the call holding line and waste time, but she could easily make her way through all of that now.

"It's Rebecca Stark."

The woman paused. "May I have verification?"

"Just let Ms. Potts know, I'm sure she'll verify anything you need." In a matter of seconds, Pepper was on the phone. "Hey Pepper."

"Hey Bec," Pepper seemed happy to hear her voice. "Why didn't you just call me on my cell?"

"Because I wanted to block your phone calls so you could take a break." she explained. "How's being CEO?"

"A mixture. Exciting, because I'm pretty much in charge of this whole thing, scary because of that same reason, and quite overwhelming considering how many people I have to talk to each day." Pepper took a deep breath. "But I think I'll go home soon, need to have a good sleep before tomorrow."

"Yeah, I've set three alarms to make sure I wake up, and set Jarvis to alert me as well, and I probably still won't wake up." Rebecca laughed. "It's nice to know you're enjoying your job now."

"I enjoyed it before as well." Pepper assured. "This is just a really big step in my life. A goal, and I reached it."

"I'm happy for you." Rebecca told her happily. "I just miss not seeing you around all day, just knowing you're here somewhere and I can come find you and talk to you." she explained. "I don't know, it's just going to take a while to adjust to."

Pepper smiled at her words, proud that she had made such an impact on her life, but guilty that she wasn't there all day, every day, like Rebecca said. She hadn't seen her in a fee days or had time to call, and the realization of that fact hurt her. Ever since Pepper was hired as Tony's P.A, she had seen Rebecca almost every day, and was there for her through those three terrible months, and having that tie cut was daunting.

"You can call me _whenever_ you want, you know." Pepper told her. "Whenever. I always have time for you. And I'll be around most days when I can."

Rebecca smiled. "No, don't worry about it, you have a lot of responsibilities now. I just get moments where I want to talk to you, that's all."

"Then call, whenever, I mean it." Pepper encouraged. "Gosh, it's only been a few days and I already miss being there with you, eating takeout and watching movies."

"Am I keeping you from anything?" Rebecca asked. "I bet you've got heaps of work and people on hold, I'm sorry, I'll see you tomorrow."

"No, they can wait. We've got some talking to do." Pepper insisted. "So, anything new today?"

* * *

Rebecca and Tony arrived at his private jet the next morning, along with Happy and Pepper shortly after. Due to Tony's inability to inform Pepper of Natalie in fact being his new personal assistant, Ms. Rushman made her way to Monaco separately with other Stark Industries personnel.

"Can we be there already?" Rebecca whined as she took the final steps up into the jet.

"Someone's not a morning person." Happy commented as he carried the bags inside.

"You wouldn't be either if _you_ were woken up the way_ I_ was." she told him, shooting a look to her dad.

Tony rolled his eyes. "Oh, get over it! It was the tiniest bit of water, and it was warm."

"It was a full glass, and it was _freezing_." she corrected, sitting down.

"Tony," Pepper shook her head disapprovingly, taking her seat as well. "Of all people, don't you think waking people up with cold water is a bit unpleasant?"

"Well I wasn't going to be hassled for being late again, and you always did that to me." he pointed out.

"That's because sometimes I didn't think you _were_ going to wake up considering the night before." Pepper defended.

"And a cold glass of water in the face was going to help that?" Tony asked.

"It worked, didn't it?" she smirked. "Anyway, let's just get this flight over with."

Tony and Happy took their seats opposite the girls, waiting until the jet was ready to leave. There were so many things that Tony had on his mind while they sat there waiting. He had remembered to stash extra palladium cores in his bag, he knew he'd need them, and there were plenty of bottles of that ghastly liquid he had been forcing himself to drink on a daily basis. He just hoped that these few days away would change some things, the way he saw his situation and how he could fix it, and even though it was a company trip, somehow give everyone that boost of freedom and fun that they needed in their life right now.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Definitely going to be more exciting next chapter, and I_ know_ I said that last time, but then there were more things that I needed to address, and I promise you now it will be much better next chapter! Thanks for reading! Please continue reviews and let me know what you think!**


	6. Chapter 6

Rebecca followed Pepper and Tony through the haze of people that crowded their car as they arrived at the Hotel de Paris, flashing cameras and throwing off questions to each of them. When they got to their hotel room the night before and heard just how intense the crowds would be, they had no choice but to hire more security since Stark Industries was a major player in the Grand Prix this year.

Happy had walked ahead of them, clearing as much as he could for them to follow through, and Tony couldn't resist turning to the crowd and raising a peace symbol with his fingers and blowing them a kiss, but they finally made it into the restaurant.

"Wow." Rebecca spoke as the door closed behind them, leaving the huge crowd behind them.

"Yeah, feels just like home doesn't it?" Tony smiled, trying not to put a bad spin on their day already.

"Don't let it overwhelm you, it won't always be that bad." Pepper held her hand on Rebecca's shoulder, guiding her through.

"Whatever happens in the next twenty minutes, just go with it." Tony whispered to Pepper.

That's when Pepper seen who was waiting for them all in the middle of the restaurant, Natalie Rushman. She had the folder in her arms just as Pepper used to hold it, the professional smile on her face as he saw Tony approaching, and the glance she gave to Pepper, trying to do her job effectively.

"Hello, how was your flight?" Natalie welcomed her boss, along with his daughter and Pepper.

"It was excellent." he smiled. "Boy, it's nice to see you." Pepper rolled her eyes at his words.

"We have one photographer from the ACM, if you don't mind." Ms. Rushman informed them, removing the drinks from their hands so they could pose for the photographer.

Rebecca ran off to the side before there was any chance for her to be called back to join them in the photo, leaving Pepper to manage smiling at the camera while interrogating Tony of his choice of applicants.

"When did this happen?" she spoke through her teeth as she posed with him.

"What? You _made_ me do it."

"I made you do what?"

"You quit." he threw back, letting out a slight tone of disappointment at the reminder. "Smile. Look right there."

Pepper laughed, and she wasn't sure if it was of amusement that Tony thought he could turn this back on her, or anger that he was upset she quit when he was the one who promoted her. "You are _so_ predictable."

Pepper walked off, back over to Rebecca, and grabbed a drink from one of the many waiters that were floating around.

"If it makes you feel any better, I really don't like her." Rebecca told Pepper. "Just...don't get a good vibe."

Pepper chuckled slightly. "It does make me feel a little better." she took a sip from her drink. "Although I'd feel a lot better if she just wasn't here."

Rebecca smiled at the fact that Pepper held back absolutely nothing to hide her jealousy just then, although she mightn't have meant to. They slowly followed behind Tony and Natalie, trying to figure out what they were doing.

"You look fantastic." Tony walked next to Natalie.

"Why, thank you very much." she smiled.

"What's on the docket?"

Natalie looked back down to her schedule. "You have a 9:30 dinner."

"Perfect. I'll be there at 11." he spoke, and Rebecca rolled her eyes at why he even bothered asking in the first place. "Is this us?" he pointed toward a table in the corner.

Natalie looked uncertain. "Uh, it can be."

"Great, make it us." Tony waved off the issue and guided Pepper over to the bar.

As Rebecca stood over by the table, she could hear Tony trying to fix whatever was going on with Pepper since she now knew that Natalie was his personal assistant.

"I didn't mean to spring this on you." he apologized.

He was whispering something about how green was not her best color, but she couldn't make out much after that since the crowd drew them in. Over by the bar, however, her attention was taken by a familiar man with glasses, his hair slicked back tidily and an obviously new suit on, and she was sure of who it was.

Tony and Pepper barely had a second to turn around and order a drink when the reporters began flashing their cameras in their face, insisting on a photo, and it was as if they couldn't catch a break when they heard an annoyingly loud voice coming from next to them.

"Anthony! Is that you?" Justin Hammer's voice boomed from next to them, leaving them no choice but to turn and face him.

"My_ least_ favorite person on Earth." Tony prepared himself. "Justin Hammer."

"How you doin'? You're not the only rich guy here with a fancy car." he laughed, although there was a hint of competition in his voice before a familiar blonde haired woman appeared behind him. "You know Christine Everhart from Vanity Fair." he smiled as he wrapped his arm around her. "BTW, big story. New CEO of Stark Industries."

Tony hated the way he pointed at Pepper so rudely, as if she wasn't even there as a human, instead as a newspaper article. He eyed Hammer's finger pointing toward her until he lowered it, feeling somewhat protective.

"My editor will kill me if I don't grab a quote from you, is that okay?" Christine asked politely.

"Oh, sure." Pepper nodded, amusement filling her that this woman thought Pepper would help her out after everything.

"She's actually doing a big spread on me for Vanity Fair." Hammer boasted. "I thought I'd throw her a bone, you know."

Pepper nodded, smiling politely still. "Right. Well, she did quite a _spread_ on Tony last year."

"And she wrote a story as well." Tony commented.

"Mm, yes, it was _very_ impressive." Pepper continued, enjoying her and Tony's little joke that Hammer seemed to catch onto and Christine blushed. "I'm gonna go...wash." Pepper excused herself.

"Don't leave me." Tony pleaded quietly, and unsuccessfully.

Tony began walking away as well, only to be followed closely behind by Justin Hammer and Christine, holding her recorder in her hand to capture some words between the two.

"This is the first time you've seen each other since the Senate?" she questioned as they walked.

"Well, since his contract got revoked." Tony corrected, much to Hammer's embarrassment.

"Actually it's on hold." Hammer explained. "On hold."

They continued their meaningless chatter for a whole longer, Christine still waiting for something good enough to record and use. They sat down at a small table near the bar, and Tony was already uncomfortable being with them for so long.

"I was hoping to present something at your Expo." Hammer proposed to Tony who had been waiting to find out what he wanted from him.

"Well, if you invent something that _works_, I'll make sure I'll get you a slot."

"Mr. Stark," Natalie interrupted, and Tony hadn't been so relieved before. "your corner table is ready."

"Great." he stood from his seat, leaving casually with no goodbye to either Hammer or Christine. "Where's Pepper?" he asked Rebecca when he met her at the table.

Rebecca shrugged. "Bathroom, I guess. What did Justin Hammer want? And that...woman."

Tony waved his hand. "Nothing, never mind. I'll be back in a minute, stay here."

Tony made his way to the bathroom, making sure no one else was in there as he pulled out the device that was used to monitor his condition. He pricked his finger gently, waiting for the device to analyze. 'Blood toxicity: 53%.' That wasn't good, he was deteriorating. Tony sighed, lowering his head as he thought to him, before looking up at his reflection.

"Got any other bad ideas?"

* * *

Rebecca was stirring at her drink with the straw as she waited for someone to come back to the table. After Tony rushed to the bathroom, Rebecca hadn't seen him or Pepper at all. Over in the middle of the crowd she could see Natalie smiling back at her, and she politely returned the gesture while continuing to scan the room.

"Ugh, sorry about that," Pepper plopped herself down on the chair across from her, a fresh drink in her hand. "Needed to get away from that Christine, and needed a drink."

Rebecca looked back over to where she last saw Hammer, and he was still sitting there with Christine as she asked him questions and recorded his answers, looking bored of his responses.

"What's he doing here?"

"I don't know, I'd hardly believe a word he said." Pepper shook her head before taking a sip of her drink.

Rebecca sighed and leaned back further into her seat, trying to ignore the many voices around her. She kept thinking that something bad was happening, and although she was never one for superstition, everything just kept adding up to the idea that something bad was happening. Rebecca shook the whole conspiracy out of her head and she took a mouthful of her raspberry drink, looking up to the television. She had to blink a few times before she realize who was in fact on the screen. Dressed in a blue jumpsuit with _'Stark'_ written across it, was her father, walking out onto the strip.

"Oh...my...god..." she breathed out, causing Pepper to look up, following her gaze, and discovering where Tony was.

Hammer was still talking to Christine about his relationship with Tony and how they weren't competitors, but then he notched Christine's attention was no longer with him. He looked behind him, where she was staring, and the television had a clear shot of Tony walking next to the car with his name on it.

_"Well what's the use of having and owning a race car if you don't drive it."_ Tony's voice came over, showing him announcing his decision to drive in the race.

Pepper hadn't taken her eyes away from the screen, instead she was panicking about what Tony was getting himself into.

"Natalie!" she called out, and the woman came running. "Did you know about this?"

Natalie looked up to the television to see. "This is the first that I have known of it."

"This cannot happen."

Natalie nodded. "Absolutely. I understand. How can I help you?"

"Where's Happy?"

"He's waiting outside."

"Okay, get him. I need Happy."

"Right away."

Pepper looked back down from the television to the table and noticed that Rebecca was gone. Her eyes flashed around the room, and there was no sign of her. She wasn't going to wait here while everything played out, she needed to get there and stop him before he done something completely stupid.

* * *

Rebecca ran as best she could through the people in the crowd, trying desperately to get closer to the race lane and find her dad. She had taken a cab there, and although they had some traffic to haul through, she was pleased with how fast she'd gotten here. Everything else back at the Hotel was a blur, she just needed to get to the race. She knew it. She knew something bad was going to happen today. Her phone was vibrating in her pocket, and it was no surprise that Pepper was trying to call.

"Yeah, hey Pepper, I'm so-"

"Don't you_ ever_ run off like that again!" Pepper scolded, and Rebecca could hear the worry and anger in her voice, just like a mother. "Where are you? Tell me you're somewhere safe! You can't just run out like that! Where are you?"

"Well," Rebecca bit down on her lip. "I'm at the race. I'm trying to find dad."

Pepper took a deep breath, trying to stay calm. "Just stay there, we'll be there soon."

Rebecca continued to push her way through the crowds, trying to find somewhere to look for her dad. There were people everywhere, and she knew the race was about to start any minute. When she finally made it to the railing, she discovered she was nowhere near the starting line. Instead, she was by the middle of the track, with no hope of stopping her dad from doing this. When the crowd erupted into a roar, she knew the race had began, and her body trembled from the vibration as the cars began.

* * *

The cars flew around the bends of the track, still on their first lap, as their engines roared with power. The crowds held all sorts of signs for their favored car, but their attention was no longer on the race when something stepped out onto the track. Rebecca didn't know what was going on since she was watching for her dad's car, until she noticed the crowd's sudden gasps and she followed their gaze. There, in the middle of the track, stood a man with a terrifying aura. The look on his face, in his eyes, in his stance, it all screamed power and threat.

"What the _hell_ is that?" Someone yelled.

Rebecca's eyes scanned the man's weapon, and she knew it was an extremely powerful one. He had an arc reactor strapped to his chest, just like Iron Man, and attached to it was two long strips, whips, and they were electrifying. The crowd yelled and screamed as the cars grew closer, and the horns blared to signal for them to stop.

"No, no, no!" Rebecca yelled as the man began to flail the whips about, cracking the concrete beneath as if it were foam.

The first car came up along the track, and the man took his opportunity to stop the race. The whip flew through the air, an electrical current powering it's impact, and smashed down on the hood of the race car. The car flipped into the air, the front corner of it now gone as a result of the whip, and it rolled into a ball of flames. No one knew if the driver survived as a few determined watchers climbed the gate to aid him.

The next car came up behind then, a blue car, with the words Stark printed across the side. Rebecca's heart almost stopped as she saw who was approaching, her dad, driving right into the flipped and flaming car.

"Dad!" Rebecca screamed out in fear as his car tumbled over, landing upside down, and the people standing around her looked at her with interest knowing she was Tony Stark's daughter.

Tony's head popped up from the other side of the car, and he seen who he was facing. The scruffy haired man smirked as he walked closer, the electrifying whips trailing behind him on the ground, sinking into the road. The man's arm raised and directed a whip straight for the side of Tony's car, exploding him now, with no chance to hide. He walked backwards on his hands and feet, trying to increase the distance between them before the man struck another whip toward Tony, but he rolled away speedily, just escaping it. Another strike, straight down in front of him, almost getting him in the more sensitive areas.

Rebecca panicked as she watched, and her body acted on behalf of her with no thought put into her actions as she jumped the gate and ran onto the raceway, limping and ignoring the terrified pleas from the crowd. She didn't know what she was doing, she wasn't even thinking, but she needed to help. This wouldn't happened again, she would not stand by once more and watch as her father's life hung in the balance at the hands of a mad man.

"Stop!" she yelled, and the man's head whipped around long enough for Tony to stand up and stare back at her with a horrors expression.

Tony kept throwing his hands about, telling her to run, to get away, but she couldn't move. Her body had put her there, and now it wouldn't get her out.

"The child," The man observed with a smirk, looking from Rebecca to Tony. "And the father. The two remaining Starks, the _only_."

Tony tried to piece together what he was saying, his words came of in a thick Russian accent, but his intent was obvious. He meant to scare, to threaten and to rule.

"Now _you,_" he looked back to Rebecca. "have surprised me. You, with no defence, with nothing to make you special, so powerless, and yet you step up to _me_. Must be the arrogance that runs in the blood of a Stark."

Rebecca took a few instinctive steps backwards, trying not to seem frightened by the man's intimidating position over her.

"Then don't be a coward!" Tony yelled out. "You came for me, don't take to the distraction. C'mon, you should know better."

The man laughed off Tony's attempt to insult him and direct his attention away from Rebecca, but he didn't move, only his gaze did as it returned to Tony.

"You assume I have come for _you_." he chuckled. "Tony Stark, weapons legend." Finally he turned his feet and walked closer. "It is not the _man_ I come for, it is the _sentiment_, the vengeance."

Tony backed up against the wire fence surrounding the race track and felt his fingers intertwine with in, knowing he had no where else to go. Just as he was beginning to panic over his options, another car engine was heard approaching. He looked up to see Happy driving the car full speed toward them, and he knew what to do. Quickly, he turned his body and climbed up the wire fence, bracing himself as the man was crushed into the fence by the car, Happy aiming directly for him.

"Hit him again!" Tony instructed.

Pepper's screams were hard to ignore from the backseat as she cried out in horror at the sight of the man hunched over the car before her. He was hurt, but not enough to stop him from swinging those whips out again and taking of the car doors.

"Are you out of your mind!?" Pepper screamed in his face as he for closer.

"Give him the case!" Happy yelled, still driving the car into the man, keeping him in place. "The case! Pepper!"

Pepper grabbed the metal case, heaving it onto her lap to pass to Tony, but the car was yet again hit by the electrifying whip. Her screams were horrifying for Tony who just wanted the case so he could stop her from being in danger.

"Bec! Go!" he called out, looking over to his terrified daughter.

Rebeca couldn't move, she was just shocked, stuck where she was as her body trembled in fear.

"Come on!" Tony yelled to Pepper for the case, and she finally had to opportunity to slide it off her lap and onto the ground in front of him.

Tony slipped his hands into the right spot and then dragged the case up to his chest, ripping each hand out to extend the suit's arms. They quickly assembled around his arms and made their way down the rest of his body, coating him in the metal shell. When the suit had assembled, his Iron Man mask fell down and finalized the assemble. He kicked his leg out and pushed the car away, putting Happy and Pepper out of danger. Rebecca, however, still stood off to the side, paralyzed with fright. Tony blasted over before the man could pull himself off of the wall and picked her up, flying her over by the crowd to be taken by medics, and then he returned to the fight before him.

The man threw his whips out, wrapping them around Iron Man's arms and legs. Tony couldn't get any ammo out, the electrifying whips got him every time. Then he began wrapping his hands around the whips and drawing him closer and closer until they were inches away. Tony then ripped the home-made arc reactor from on top of his chest and let the man fall down powerless. When the electricity faded away, security, police, response teams, all sorts of aid came over and dragged him away as the crowd cheered for Iron Man's win against his foe.

"You lose!" The man shouted, laughing, as blood dripped from his mouth at each word. "You lose!"

Tony ignored him, analyzing the arc reactor in his hand before crushing it, rendering it useless and throwing it to the ground in disgust. He looked around at the adoring crowd, thankful he had just potentially saved their lives, and then over to Happy and Pepper who stop worriedly outside of the car. Then, his attention went back to Rebecca who stood emotionless off to the side as medics made sure she was okay from the shock, staring back at her dad, all the emotion instead in her eyes. Fear and worry, both of them thinking of the same words the man had told them, knowing this whole thing was personal; he was coming for Tony Stark and anything else the family held, and that too, happened to be Rebecca.

* * *

"What the _hell_ were you thinking?" Tony looked at Rebecca seriously.

Once they had all regrouped after the incident, they headed to a backstage area where they were assured they could stay while they waited for news from the government authorities since this was kind of a big deal. Although Tony had protected the citizens and saved their lives, there was still a lot to go through with the police and authorities since Tony wanted to see the man personally and find out what this grudge was all about.

"Me?" Rebecca's eyes widened. "How can you point the finger at _me_? You were the one who decided to drive that thing and almost get yourself killed!"

"I had no idea that guy was here!" he defended.

"That's not to point, and you know it. You were the one who thought it was a good idea to take off and drive in the Grand Prix, after you promised you wouldn't do anything stupid." she explained, trying to reason with him over all of this.

Tony shook his head. "That doesn't matter. The point is you could've gotten_ yourself_ killed, and it was a stupid thing to do!" Tony raised his voice.

"Stupid? So it's stupid to care if you die? Or to try and help?"

"You know what I mean Rebecca." he spoke firmly. "You don't get to make those decisions, you keep yourself _out_ of it, you understand? Stop trying to get yourself killed."

Rebecca shook her head in disbelief that Tony would talk to her like that after all that had happened. She wasn't even allowed to care any more, so it seemed, and she couldn't even defend herself. Tony couldn't hell his emotions building up like that, he didn't mean to snap, but she couldn't keep putting her life on the line for his, it wasn't fair. Pepper and Happy stood back by the corner, trying to ignore the argument, but it was too intense, they'd never seen them bicker like that.

"Fine." she bit out. "I'm going."

Tony reached his arm out to her shoulder. "Hey, no way!"

Rebecca turned around and knocked his arm off of hers angrily. "Don't touch me! Wouldn't want to bruise me would you? Because I'm _so_ fragile, I'm _so_ helpless, I can't defend myself or even speak for myself."

"Given past circumstances you can see why I would want you out of all of this, wouldn't you? You've almost gotten yourself killed twice."

"Sorry I'm such a burden, dad." she scoffed. "Y'know, I don't do it on purpose. You think I get a kick out of it? 'Cause I don't. Do you even remember what happened all those months ago?" she asked, emotions become high. "I sure do, in fact I can't stop thinking about it, it frightens me all the time, seeing you die in my head over an over again. You promised you wouldn't do anything stupid again, and that I'd never have to go through that again, but here we are."

Tony looked saddened by her words, but stood his ground on the issue. "This is different"

"It's not different." she shook her head. "It's exactly the same. You promised you wouldn't do anything stupid again, and you got in that car. What were _you_ thinking?"

Tony guiltily looked down at his feet, not knowing how to answer. He didn't even know for himself what he was thinking. It was all impulse. He felt he needed to do it, needed to do something reckless, but his mind slipped the consequences.

"I'm sorry..." he looked up. "I shouldn't have done it, I admit that. But I'm not backing down. You _can't_ keep throwing yourself into all of this, you'll get hurt, I can take care of myself."

"But it's okay for_ you_ to do it, to protect me?"

"You wouldn't understand unless-"

"Oh, I understand, dad, believe me. How many times have I had to stand by and watch you almost get yourself killed? And I'm not allowed to even do something about it." she justified. "I know I'm your daughter, but sooner or later you need to realize I'm not a _child_ any more, I haven't been for a long time."

* * *

**Okay, so I hope you guys liked that chapter! Forgive the last section if Rebecca sounds really ungrateful or anything, but take into account she's a teenage girl who just seen her father almost crushed to pieces. Anyway, I felt this argument was coming from a long way away, needing to get all of those feelings out, so there you go. I'm sorry if you didn't enjoy it or had issues with this chapter, but as I said, it will progressively get better! Thanks for reading!**

**Also, if you're interested, I wrote a _Halloween_ special chapter for Being A Stark and I hope you guys enjoy it.**

**And, my thoughts are with any of you who are effected by Superstorm Sandy, I hope you're all okay! xx**


	7. Chapter 7

Rebecca walked into the hotel room silently as Pepper followed behind. Tony had Happy follow the chief of police car back to the holding cell where the man, who was now named as Ivan Vanko, was being held. Much to her protests, Tony had gone along to visit him and interrogate him for his actions. He needed to know why this man hated his family so much, and he intended to somehow narrow down what he was trying to achieve.

"You sure you're okay?" Pepper asked, knocking Rebecca from her thoughts that seemed to be consuming her.

"Yeah," she nodded lazily. "I'm fine. I just...wish I hadn't gone off like that."

Pepper took a seat next to her on the small sofa. "Hey, it was bound to happen. There was way too much tension between the two of you after all of that, it needed to be said, it needed to be out there."

Rebecca smiled faintly. "What about you? Are you okay?"

Pepper sighed. "Physically, I'm fine. Mentally...let's not go there. The image of your father being flung through the air by those...whips...will never escape me."

"I'm sorry." Rebecca apologized. "For running off. I just needed to stop him, or at least try, but I guess that was all a waste of time in the end."

"It's okay," Pepper reached her arm out to Rebecca's shoulder. "I know what you'd do for you dad, and I'm not going to criticize you over it, I think you've had enough of that. Just know that your father, he puts your first all of the time-"

"I know Pepper, and I hate sounding like a whiny teenager but I can't help it. He expects me to sit by and watch him continuously almost die, but I need to help. I need to do something, I'm not a kid, I can help."

Pepper nodded, although she didn't seem convinced. "I understand, really, I do."

Rebecca sat there quietly after that, by herself, just thinking of that one thing that's been on her mind for months. That suit. The suit she would prove herself with, that she could protect herself and everyone she loved, she could do it. She wasn't a child, and she could prove it.

* * *

Tony followed the guard down the corridor, staring at the door ahead. Behind that door sat the man who tried to kill him, who somehow held such a powerful grudge against his family, and he was about to confront him about it.

"Just so you know, Mr. Stark, there's eyes on you in that room. He may be a criminal, but we have a right to protect both of you, so...keep it professional." One of the officers who spoke English informed him with a concerned look.

"Professional?"

"You know what I mean Mr. Stark."

Tony nodded his agreement, he had no plans to make this visit violent, not unless there was need to. The guards put a code into the door and it make a squeak as it opened, and Tony walked through. He felt no sympathy for the man who sat in the middle of the room, shirtless as a result of his electrifying weapon and arc-reactor, as he tuned his head to see who was approaching.

Tony had no idea how to begin his words with this man, he had so many questions and he just wanted the answers now. Vanko clearly didn't care for Tony at all considering the throaty chuckle he let out when he saw him. Tony had never met him before, he was sure of that, and his immediate thoughts were that he was somehow involved with The Ten Rings terrorist group, since that was his first thought now when someone wanted to kill him, but his Russian decent didn't fit.

"You come from a family of thieves and butchers," Ivan looked over. "and like all guilty men, you try to rewrite your history, to forget all the lives the Stark family has destroyed."

Tony assumed then he was referring to weapons, since that was all the Stark family manufactured, but something in his voice hinted his own personal anguish.

"Speaking of thieves, where'd you get this design? You look like you have friends in low places." he asked, ignoring Vanko's previous words.

"My father, Anton Vanko." he answered with pride.

"Never heard of him."

"My father is the reason you're alive." Ivan became defensive, his eyes glaring.

Tony stared back at him with equal intensity. "No, the reason I'm alive is because you made a shot, and you missed."

Ivan let another chuckle escape from his throat. "If you could make God bleed, people would cease to believe in him, there will be blood in the water, the sharks will come." The look in his eyes was intimidating, as if he held so much power. "All I have to do is sit back and watch as the world consumes you. "

"Where will you be watching the world consume me from? Oh, that's right, a prison cell." he responded carelessly. "I'll send you a bar of soap."

Tony stood up from his position on the metal seat next to Vanko, turning from the man who he had gathered enough information from. He didn't need to ask any questions after all, Vanko summed up all his suspicions in his speech, this was personal. The only thing that made him feel comfortable with leaving him in this cell was the fact that he'd never be leaving it again.

"Hey, Tony. Before you go," Vanko calle out, gaining no response. "palladium in the chest, painful way to die."

Tony froze up at his words. There was more to this man than he thought, there was more to the whole situation. Somehow he knew Tony was dying, knew he was deteriorating as each day went on, as each minute passed, he was worsening. He didn't know what to say in return, he didn't want to see vulnerable and give in to his words by retaliating, so he knocked on the large metal door and was soon escorted out of the building, his mind still in a trance at Vanko's warning.

* * *

"I've got to go meet with the Stark team, their up in arms about something, though they've got every right to be angry." Pepper walked into the living room where Rebecca lay sprawled out, staring out into the dusk sky. "I'll just be down in the restaurant, I'll bring back some dinner."

Rebecca nodded, still looking out at the sinking sun. "Okay then."

Pepper sighed. "Will you be okay here?"

"I'll be fine. The child lock's on everything, right?" Rebecca peered over to Pepper who looked unimpressed. "I'm kidding, go do what you have to do, l'll be fine."

Pepper gave her a smile and picked up her handbag. "I have my cell if you need anything."

Rebecca nodded in reply and turned back to the window, waiting for Pepper to ask her if she'd be okay here alone once more. The door shut not long after, and then she was alone. She couldn't stop thinking of that man at the track as she looked aimlessly out the window into the sunset. The government was going to give Tony absolute hell for this after ensuring his arc reactor was one of it's kind and the technology wasn't advanced enough to replicate it yet.

Rebecca had no idea how long she'd been staring at the speedy sunset, but when she looked up at the door after a few knocks, she realized her vision was blurred from the concentration. She wondered who would be stopping by the room considering Tony and Happy had gone, and Pepper too. She looked up through the peep hole, cursing under her breath at who stood outside.

"Oh come on, open up. I won't bite." he joked with a much too polite tone.

Rebecca groaned and turned the doorknob, opening it up to face the man dressed in an obviously expensive grey suit.

"Justin Hammer." she smiled forcefully, folding her arms. "How can I help you? Did you get lost on your way to kiss the Senator's ass again?"

Hammer chuckled enthusiastically, clapping his hands. "That's good, got a bit of a fight in you, bit of a joker, I like you already." he continued to smile, pretending they were getting along pleasantly. "Anyway, being the do-gooder I am, I came to see how your dad's going. Quite a day he's had. Mind if I come in?" he slid past her in the doorway, making himself at home in the living room.

"Yeah..." Rebecca let out a frustrated sigh and walked over to the chair directly across from him, crossing her arms and legs as to look unamused. "He's fine."

Hammer didn't seem to be listening, he just nodded mindlessly. "I see, well, y'know I respect your father a lot so if he ever needs anything, I'm here."

The gesture was so insincere Rebecca almost let out a slight laugh, but resisted. "What do you want? I know you could care less about my dad."

Hammer looked hurt. "I in fact do care for Tony Stark, he's a brilliant man and I'd hate to see him in trouble." he defended. "You see, this is why I've come to see you. Your dad needs help if he's going to go head to head with the government, serious help, and I can offer that help, I'm all for peace between the Feds and your dad, all for it."

Rebecca gave him a glare. "Do you honestly think that I believe you? You're a liar for a living, I'm not stupid."

"Hey, hey now, I've been nothing but kind since I've known your dad, I can't control his dislike toward me." he settled back into the couch. "He needs help. I can show the government how those suits work, and how they benefit the country, and I can change the way the way they see them. The only reason the government wants that suit is to see what it's potential is, to see what it can do, because they're afraid of it. I can change that, I want to help, but it'll have to be between us, your dad won't be on board."

Rebecca couldn't believe that she was actually listening to this man, but there she was and it was making sense. All the talk about the government was understandable, and believable, but what she needed to know was how he intended on helping and what the catch was.

"You're supposed to be the guy who the government uses to go _against_ my dad." she stated.

"I'm the weapons expert, yes, they need my knowledge in order to make your dad look bad. But they listen to me, and I can change their opinion."

"How are you going to do that?" she questioned, showing her interest.

Hammer paused for a moment. "I need...a suit." he announced. "I have to show them what it can do, and when they see, I'm going to make an army."

Rebecca's mouth fell open as her eyes widened. "You what? An army? Are you out of your mind!"

Hammer raised his hands to settle her objections. "A _government_ army, for the military. Think about it, it'll lessen the workload for your dad with an army out there and he'll be off the hook." he explained. "Its win-win."

Rebecca shook her head: "There's _no_ way you're getting the Iron Man suit."

Hammer sighed, exasperated. "Do you not realize what I've just offered you? An end to _all_ your problems in return for one tiny request. I thought you, the loving child, would want this for your dad."

"You're asking me to _take_ the suit from my dad and, instead of the government, hand it over to you." Rebecca told him. "I won't do that."

"I get it, your all about family love and trust." he nodded understandingly. "But do you realize what they're going to do to him? Huh? They're going to destroy him and everything he's worked for. That little...thing in his chest, will be worthless."

Rebecca hated the way he got under her skin and made her worry even more than she already was.

"Forget it. I'm not giving you a suit to dissect." she shook her head again.

"Well then," he shrugged. "There is _another_ option. I know your dad didn't build that thing in the dark for weeks, you must've seen a fair bit of the production, I'd bet you could even _make_ one yourself. Am I right?" Rebecca stared back at him, not saying a word, and he took that as his answer. "See? I know you better than you think."

"This has nothing to do with anything."

"On the contrary," he laughed. "This is everything_. I_ have the materials, _you_ have the knowledge. We could end this mess once and for all, no betrayal necessary."

Rebecca considered what he was suggesting. "You're asking me to build you a suit."

Hammer pulled a face, trying to come up with an answer that didn't make the truth seem the truth. "Well...y-yes and no." he threw his hands up. "Yes, yes that's what I'm asking."

"Guess I was wrong about you." she smiled. "You're even more stupid than I thought."

Hammer grinned. "I see you're on the fence about things, I understand, it's a lot to consider." he stood up an reached into his coat pocket. "Here, that's my card. Think about things, get back to me. If you really want to help your dad as much as you say you do, you'll do what's necessary."

Rebecca glared at him as she opened the door once again, gesturing for him to leave. "I'm not building you a suit Hammer, you can forget it. Now, if you don't mind, get the hell out."

Hammer slid his hands into his pocket and grinned like a child, walking toward the door, stopping just beside her.

"Well, when you're done contemplating my offer for the rest of the evening, which you will be, let me know, 'cause we'll start production straight away." he spoke confidently. "Oh, and I wouldn't mention this little business visit to your dad, I mean, unless you want more trouble for him, y'know, since I'll be addressing the Senate on this issue when I get back to DC."

"Threats?" Rebecca scoffed. "Really?"

Hammer shrugged. "Of course not."

As soon as his body was through the door, Rebecca slammed it shut in his face, locking it. He had such a nerve coming here and asking such things, and he really was losing his mind if he thought she would agree to make him an Iron Man suit. What bothered her the most, however, was the fact that he was right about one thing definitely - she would be contemplating the whole thing all night.

* * *

Rebecca sat in the chair on the jet, staring out at the clouds as they began their journey back home, her mind replaying the whole conversation with Justin Hammer as she had the previous night, keeping her from sleep. Happy had retreated to his cabin in order to get some sleep, and Rebecca could feel herself slowly slipping away as well. When Tony had arrived back from visiting Ivan Vanko's jail cell the day before, Rebecca didn't exactly patch things up with her father. They spoke about the whole incident, but she could tell her dad was firm on the whole idea of keeping Rebecca out of any life threatening scenarios regardless of whether or not she was trying to help him. Rebecca held in her protests, knowing they would be useless, and she relented, agreeing to her father's conditions.

"Hey," Pepper nudged her shoulder gently as Rebecca's eyes flew open. "Why don't you go lay down? You're tired."

Rebecca grumbled for a moment and then pulled herself up off the seat. "Mm, yeah, I think I will."

Pepper took her seat over by the window again, wondering where Tony was, he'd been out of sight for a few hours now and she assumed she was the only person awake now. Her eyes fixed on the television on the wall, and she activated the audio to listen in. It was Senator Stern, and he was talking about Iron Man.

_"Mr. Stark assured us this technology, these suits, couldn't exist anywhere, and wouldn't exist anywhere else for at least twenty years." he spoke angrily, reporting in to the camera. "And now the events in Monaco just show us, these suits exist now."_

Pepper frowned, watching as Stern continued to criticize Tony's failure to gain his country's trust. It wasn't fair, Iron Man had done so much for this country and the government, and saved many lives, but they still weren't satisfied.

_"Senator Stern there discussing the incident at the Monaco Grand Prix involving Tony Stark's Iron Man. We'll bring you more on the issue when weapons expert Justin Hammer speaks at the Senate-"_

"Mute." Tony's voice came from behind Pepper.

She turned her head to see him walking over to the seat before her, setting a plastic tray down on the table, hiding the contents.

"What is that?" Pepper raised an eyebrow.

Tony lifted the lid proudly. "Your in-flight meal."

Underneath the lid sat an unidentifiable meal, mushed together and burnt. The longer she looked at it, she realized it was his attempt at an omelet.

"You just made that?" she asked, trying to hide her repulse at the sight of the food.

"Yeah, where do you think I've been for the last three hours?"

Pepper continued to stare at the omelet, her eyes flickering between that and Tony, who was looking out the window thoughtfully. He was rarely this quiet, but given recent circumstances she understood his silence, but she couldn't let her worry go unheard.

"Tony," she spoke quietly, waiting for him to look up at her. "what are you _not_ telling me?" Pepper knew he was hiding something, and it was big, but she didn't know what and maybe she didn't want to.

Tony didn't answer at first, contemplating the many things he needed to tell her. She needed to know that while he sat there before her, he was slowly dying. He had already swapped a palladium core, but they were beginning to become low, and he needed to moderate the usage. Telling Rebecca would break his heart, and if Pepper knew, he would have someone that knew why he was acting the way he was and search for alternate solutions. He couldn't tell her though, he couldn't bare it. The look on her face, the worry, the stress, he couldn't put that into her until he continued to try every possible way to survive, but time was running out. It was in those seconds of silence that he backed out of his confession.

"I don't want to go home." he shook his head. "At _all_. Let's just...let's just go somewhere. Take a vacation."

"A vacation?" Pepper raised her eyebrows, knowing that wasn't a possibility.

"Venice. Let's go to Venice."

''Tony-''

''No, no, just think about it.''

"It's just_ not_ the right time." she spoke sincerely, showing her apology. "Not with what's going on."

"But that's exactly why _now_ is the perfect time." he encouraged. "We can get away from all of this...everything. Take some time, recharge."

Pepper sighed. "Not everyone runs on batteries Tony."

Tony stopped with his pushing of the vacation, settling back into his chair with an understanding look on his face, giving Pepper a slight smile. She returned the smile, but her heart ached at the sight of him so broken at what he was going through. Pepper had never known Tony to be one to admit defeat, or admit he was struggling with something, but right now that wasn't necessary, she could see the pain he was going through, and she couldn't help him.

* * *

**Hey guys, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Had a lot I wanted to explain and get through. Anyway, I just wanted to say that as much as I will be sticking to the movie, I won't be following the same timing, so a lot of things will happen before scenes in the movie, I hope I don't confuse people who are following the movie too much in this story even though I'm trying to stick to it, but I have a lot I need to incorporate into it, so the sequence of events will change, just a heads up. I hope you are all enjoying it so far and continue to follow because I have a lot of ideas and other things lined up for following chapters! Please review and let me know what you think. Thanks for reading!**


	8. Chapter 8

The next day, Rebecca and Tony had gotten back into their usual routine of sharing the workshop and talking, putting aside whatever argument they had with each other. It was nice to be back in the shop with each other, it made it seem like nothing bad had happened in Monaco, or was going on with the government. She helped him with designs for upgrades, and he helped her on the car she was working on.

"This needs more work than ever." he observed from beneath it. "When's the last time you worked on this thing?"

"The other week." she kicked at one of the side bumpers to remove it. "But before that...well, I didn't touch it after...when you, y'know. Never mind, I'm working on it now."

Tony was silent on the issue when he realized what she was trying to explain. She had stopped working on it after he was taken, and he didn't want to take her back to those memories.

"Well, you'll have it running in no time." he gave her a smile when he popped up from underneath the car.

"And then_ I'll_ be driving it." she removed another sheet from the dusty end of the car. "Like you promised."

"Hmm, knew I should've thought that one through." he looked at the car. "It's not your type."

"I think it's fair since I'm rebuilding everything in it." she ripped off some other metal pieces that weren't exactly stable.

"With my help." he pointed out.

"Only for today, then it's hands off, mine."

The next hour went past with Rebecca and Tony making a long list of parts that were needed for the car since most was either falling apart, broken or they just weren't there. Pepper had revisited her old job and had come down a few times to try and pry Tony away from the workshop since he'd been avoiding dealing with anything to do with the Monaco incident. Natalie had given up on trying to get through to Tony when he was down there working on something, but Pepper knew she held more power when it came to that.

"I'm hungry." Tony complained when Pepper insisted he come upstairs. "Okay, I'll take a lunch break. Call up the usual place, usual order, extra toppings, extra everything."

Pepper sighed. "That's not my job anymore."

"Fine." he stomped past her like a child. "Hey Natalie!" he called out as he climbed the stairs to the living room.

* * *

Rebecca ran over to the door when the bell rang in hopes to get to the pizza before her dad, not that he could though, since Pepper had him looking through everything that he needed to sort out as Natalie wrote down lists and schedules for him. Just as she opened the door, she immediately recognized Ben standing there holding the pizzas.

"You _do_ order a lot of pizzas." he laughed as he handed her the four boxes.

"Hey, I warned you." she took the boxes and sat them down on the corner table next to the door.

As she stood there in front of him, she suddenly became conscious of the fact that she was covered in dirty remnants of the car downstairs, black smudges all over her arms and most likely her face.

"Uh," she looked down at her dirty hands. "Been a bit busy all day, car stuff..."

"Ah, so that explains the four pizzas." Ben smiled.

"Sadly, that's our usual order, regardless." she laughed. "So, how've you been?"

For about ten minutes Rebecca and Ben stood outside her door and talked about everything from Monaco and Iron Man to his shifts at the pizza store and homework. Rebecca offered to help him with his engineering homework in the afternoons, but they would have to work around his shifts.

"I actually have tonight off, for once, which is weird since its s Saturday." he thought to himself, but was nervous to ask. "Um, are you busy tonight? Have you got any plans?"

Rebecca didn't even have to think about it. "Nope, no plans, as usual."

Ben nodded and smiled, but he didn't actually speak for a while, getting his thoughts together. "Well, uh, I was thinking, I don't usually get a weekend night off, and you just got back and we haven't been able to hang out, so I thought maybe, uh, you wanna go to the movies? Or something else, whatever.

Rebecca smiled at his awkward fumbling. "Movies? Wow, I haven't been to the movies in so long."

"You're right, it's boring, stupid idea-"

"No, no, I want to go." she calmed his worries. "I just haven't been in a while, it'll be fun." she smiled. "I, uh, haven't really been anywhere with anyone in a long time. No one my age, anyway."

Ben felt bad about the whole situation with everyone at school and Rebecca. They didn't like that she got so much media attention, but she never asked for that treatment, it came with the name, it was what she was brought up with. He missed her not being at school with them anymore, he missed not being able to see her everyday like he used to, and he couldn't help still hold feelings for her just like he did back then.

"Well, we can go for dinner too." he suggested with a smile. "I mean, if you want to, if that's okay."

"Really? I'd love to!" she beamed, making Ben feel better about asking.

"Great! Well, I'll pick you up at 7. Is that okay?"

"Sounds good." she nodded in excitement, not even bothering to hide the huge grin on her face. "I'll see you then."

Rebecca happily walked back inside, turning to pick up the pizzas when she stumbled on her feet, running into her dad who stood right behind the door, probably listening in on the whole conversation between her and Ben.

"Who was that?" Tony asked, munching on a piece of pizza.

Rebecca was still recovering from the shock of running into him. "Don't play dumb, I know you heard the whole thing."

Tony shrugged. "I might've caught the last few seconds."

Rebecca rolled her eyes and grabbed the other pizza boxes from the table and walked into the living, Tony still pestering her as he followed behind.

"Well are you going to ask my permission to go out?" he asked, sitting down on the couch.

Pepper and Natalie both looked up at the pair, wondering what he was talking about. For Pepper, this wasn't an unusual occurrence, her being completely lost about the conversation, but for Natalie, she was still adjusting to how things worked around here.

"No." she shook her head, opening the box to get herself a slice. "Because I'm seventeen, and going to the movies is not a big deal."

Tony scoffed. "Stop using your age against me. I'm your dad, I don't stop worrying because you get older."

Rebecca smiled to herself at his words. It was little things like that she appreciated from her dad, not the over-the-top protection and concerns.

"Fine." she looked over to him. "Dad, can I go to dinner and the movies with my friend tonight?"

Tony took advantage of the parental authority he had at that moment. "Well, who is he?"

"Ben White. He's in my year at school, well, when I went to school." she explained.

"Uh huh, so he's your age?"

"Yes, he's seventeen." she told him in an exasperated tone, knowing he would drag this out.

"Ben White. Ben White. White." Tony mused to himself as if going through a mental background check on the boy. "Hmm, doesn't ring a bell."

"Okay then, but you didn't answer me."

"Well how long will you be out?" he asked.

"Not too late."

"A time would be nice."

Rebecca rolled her eyes and dramatically threw her head back against the couch. "Seriously? After everything that's happened over these last few days, are you going to stop me from having fun as well?" she looked over to him. "I know you worry, and I know he's a boy and you're being a typical protective dad about this, but I don't exactly have a bunch of friends to hang out with, so please let me keep the ones I do have."

Pepper and Natalie left the living room for the moment, worried that an argument was going to erupt. Tony immediately felt bad about pushing the whole issue. He knew she didn't keep in contact with her old friends anymore, he wouldn't be so cruel as to not let her go out. He had already given her strict conditions when it came to anything Iron Man related and keeping herself safe, he even made her promise not to risk her life for his, she was entitled to just go out and have fun.

"You can go." he gave her an apologetic smile. "I'm not that much of a grumpy old man that I'd make you stay at home on a Saturday."

Rebecca's lips tugged into a smile. "You're not a grumpy old man. You've still got a few years before you qualify for that title."

Tony laughed at her words. "Huh, good to know." he settled into the couch, picking up another slice of pizza. "I'm sorry about all of...what happened. You just mean more to me than anything, and I couldn't stand it if anything happened to you because of Iron Man."

Rebecca nodded along. "No, I get it, I understand. It's just...I want to at least help, somehow."

"I know, but I don't_ want_ you to." he shook his head. "I started all this mess, I made Iron Man and then I told the whole world about it. Let _me_ deal with it, and you just...be a kid, have fun, don't worry so much."

In a way, Tony was trying to make sure he said these things before it was too late. He had no idea how long he had before the palladium in his chest actually took the ultimate toll on his body, he needed to make sure she didn't spend the best years of the life worrying about him instead of being a teenager.

* * *

Natalie rushed into the living room, searching for the woman whose role she had now taken on, and it proved to be a difficult task seeing as Tony was such a handful.

"Ms. Potts?" she walked over to Pepper at the kitchen bench. "Do you have a moment?"

Pepper didn't take her eyes away from her laptop, reading the stock reports. "I'm a little busy Natalie, is it important?"

"I was just wondering whether or not Tony still intended on hosting his birthday party." Natalie pulled out her schedule. "With all of this going on, I wasn't sure, and he doesn't exactly give a straight answer."

Pepper finished looking over the last sentence on her screen and then picked up the piece of paper Natalie had pushed in front of her. "Hmm, sure is a lot of people."

"That's actually not the complete list yet, it's being added to daily."

Pepper shook her head. "Well, by the sounds of that Tony_ does_ intend on this party."

"I'm just not sure it's a good idea."

"What's not a good idea?" Tony's voice came from behind them at the doorway, tapping away at his arc reactor. "Huh? C'mon, tell me."

Pepper put the piece of paper down and looked over to Tony. "Your party."

"Yeah..." he looked confused. "I thought you agreed on it, it'll be fun."

Pepper remembered their conversation on the jet when Tony insisted they take a vacation and forget about the party, but she declined, and now she was the one telling him not to do the party. She felt hypocritical.

"I just don't think it's the best idea, not when you're dealing with all of this government business." she pointed out. "And there's so many people, who knows what'll happen and somehow get you into more trouble."

Tony seemed to be taking in her concerns, but when he weighed up his options, this could be his last birthday. If all else failed and nothing could be done for him, this could very well be the last party he would have, and the last time he'd celebrate his birthday.

"It'll be fine." he encouraged. "Relax, would you? It wouldn't be a birthday if I didn't throw a party and invite everyone I knew, or didn't know."

Natalie still didn't speak up, instead she left the conversation to Pepper and Tony, observing. It was interesting to see how their relationship worked. Tony, the famous billionaire bachelor, who could be told what to do easily by this woman who was his personal assistant, now CEO.

"Just promise me that nothing will get out of hand." Pepper looked at him seriously. "You can't afford any bad press, or incidents."

Tony motioned his hands for her to settle. "It's not for a few days yet, just relax. Natalie has it covered, right?"

Natalie nodded confidently, looking between the two of them. "Yes, Mr. Stark."

"See?" he looked over to Pepper proudly. "Excellent. Now, what time was that kid coming to pick Rebecca up?"

Pepper instantly removed all of her attention from we laptop, ignoring the fact she hadn't made it half way through the stock report yet. "Oh, no you don't!" she scolded, giving him a hard look. "Don't spoil her night Tony, I swear, you're on _thin ice_ with her at the moment."

Tony put his hands up in defence as he pulled a bottle of water from the refrigerator. "Who said I was going to spoil her night?"

Pepper scoffed. "Yeah, right. I can see right through you. You'll got out there when he shows up, embarrass her somehow with your impeccable skill to do so, and then she'll be out all night in a bad mood because you couldn't respect her privacy."

Tony took a swig of the water and considered the fact that Pepper did indeed see right through him, in fact she knew him better than anyone. He had no intentions of embarrassing Rebecca, although he probably would, but he just wanted to meet the guy.

"Can I at least say hello?" he asked curiously.

Pepper sighed and looked over. "Just be careful. She told me it was just friends hanging out, but teenage girls can be...sensitive about these issues. I don't know what's going on," she shook her head, trying not to influence Tony. "but I think you should just lay low and keep it cool."

Tony nodded in agreement, for once taking this sort of thing seriously. Teenage girls could be quite a challenge when boys were involved, and Tony certainly didn't want to upset her when it came to that.

"Okay, yep, got it, lay low."

* * *

Rebecca had only just finished slipping on one of her shoes when she was informed by Jarvis of Ben's arrival. She's instructed him to let her know so she could escape before her dad came and done something weird, as usual.

"Thanks Jarvis," she managed to say before rushing out of her room, peering down the corridors for her dad. Just as she walked past the hallway to the living room, she spotted him standing in the doorway with a neutral smile on his face. "So, I'm going now."

Tony nodded, slipping his hands into his pocket. "Alright," he watched as she turned to the door. "Have fun."

"I will." she called back, feeling odd about this situation. It wasn't like her dad to avoid an opportunity like this, to somehow embarrass her whether it intentional or not.

Rebecca made it to the door just as Ben did, and she opened it to see his fist curled up and ready to knock. He was dressed better than she had expected, which made her question her own apparel for the evening. He wore a blue dress shirt, not too formal nor too casual, and black jeans that easily made out to be trousers. He looked quite handsome, but Rebecca wasn't sure whether it was the fact she hadn't seen him in anything other than a pizza delivery uniform.

Ben smiled happily at her as she met him at the door, relieved that he wouldn't have to knock and wait for someone to answer, whoever it be. She wore a peachy colored dress, casual, but beautiful, and her dark brown hair flowed over her shoulders and down to her chest. She looked gorgeous in his eyes, and he almost felt silly that she even wanted to hang out with him when he put them in comparison.

"Hey," he flashed a happy smile at her. "You, uh, you look really...lovely." he cringed at his word selection, fumbling at the last second.

Rebecca chuckled at his obvious embarrassment. "Thank you," she beamed. "You look very handsome yourself without the pizza boy cap."

"Yeah, it sure makes a difference." Ben laughed, enjoying how at ease this all was. "Well, shall we?" he held his hand out to gesture toward his car.

It was a black Monaro, an old model that wasn't even in production anymore, and she assumed it was his fathers. She followed him up the path to the driveway parking space and climbed into the passenger seat, looking around at the interior of what seemed like an old model car.

"Woah, I definitely like this car." she ran her hands along the leather seats.

"Thought you might." he smiled as he put the keys in ignition and started the engine up.

The drive into the city was relaxing, and Rebecca missed what it felt like to be a careless teenager just like all of her friends were. Ben turned up the radio when she mentioned she liked the song, and soon her arms were out the window as she enjoyed the cool breeze and the feeling that overwhelmed her. Her dad was right, she needed to stop worrying and just be a kid, have some fun, forget about the consequences for just one night and let go. She needed this, she needed an escape from her life even if it was only a few hours, she needed it and Ben could tell given her glee when she sat in the passenger seat singing along to the music, and he even joined in.

They drove into the parking lot of a small Italian restaurant within the city, one that Ben claimed his favorite, and they walked inside. The restaurant was packed with people, almost every table was taken and she wondered if Ben had booked ahead.

"Yeah, hi, uh, table for two. White." he told the man behind the board who looked down his list of names and seemed satisfied when he seen the name he was looking for.

"Right this way," he instructed as he walked them to their table. I was a window table over by the corner, enough privacy to be able to talk freely without feeling completely disconnected. "Your waiter should be over soon to take your orders."

Rebecca took a moment to absorb her surroundings. She hadn't been to a restaurant that wasn't five star and full of adults in quite some time, it was exciting, and she loved that she was here with Ben, just the two of them.

"Have you been here before?" Ben asked, picking up a menu.

Rebecca shook her head. "Like I said, I haven't been many places."

Ben quirked an eyebrow. "You? Rebecca Stark, haven't been many places?"

"You know what I mean." she laughed. "I haven't been anywhere like this. I've only been to boring restaurants where there is no one my age and I just...don't like it. I like it here though," she assured him. "A lot."

Ben smiled back at her, happy she was having a good time already. "Well then, I guess you'll have to rely on me for suggestions about the menu," he laughed, acting superior. "Don't worry, I'll show you the best ones."

Rebecca let him pull the menu down to show them both, and he ran his fingers over the options, telling her the best ones and what he thought she'd like. She was listening, but she wasn't looking at the menu, instead she was taken by him. His complete dedication for her to have a good night, to enjoy herself and he was so selfless on that matter. She couldn't help admire him for that, and she knew she was finally being a teenager for once when she couldn't take her eyes off of his.

"So, what do you feel like?" he asked, turning to her and breaking her stare.

"Hmm?" she creased her eyebrows in a few seconds of confusion. "Oh, uh, I'm not sure yet. Should I _really_ rely on your suggestions?" she played.

Ben laughed. "Hey, trust me, I'm a pizza boy."

* * *

**Hope you guys liked this chapter, I kinda wanted to focus more on Rebecca being a teenager again instead. I hope you guys like the character of Ben, I want to involve him in some further chapters as well. Anyway, there'll be more exciting chapters to come so I hope you all continue to read! Please continue the reviews, I love reading your comments and what you think. Thank you for reading! **


	9. Chapter 9

**Kinda long chapter, sorry about that, but I didn't want to cut anything out.**

"Sir, I have scanned all possible elements, none seem to be able to sustain such energy as the palladium cores do." Jarvis informed Tony, who had ordered for another two tests on the elements as well as a combination of numerous ones, all failing.

"Well you need to find something!" he barked at the A.I, frustrated that he still made no progress on finding a suitable replacement. "Run the diagnostics again, full run through of all known elements, try combinations, try anything, just...just_ do_ it."

"Very well, sir."

"Oh, and..." Tony began, thinking he would do a check up on Rebecca and track her cell, just to see where they were, but then he remembered Pepper's warning to lay low. "Uh, never mind."

Tony walked over to his old roadster that sat neatly in line with his other old model cars, and he climbed into the driver seat, settling in comfortably as he watched the tests run on the hologram in front of him. He kept seeing red circles popping up everywhere, showing they had failed, and he hung his head in disappointment even though he was expecting nothing else. In the corner of the screen Tony had the news headlines up, just incase there was mention of any more Iron Man disagreements or complaints from the government, which there usually was, and something caught his attention. He swapped the running tests in front of him for the news headlines, and he saw a name that drew him in.

_"Ivan Vanko, the man who came face to face with Tony Stark's Iron Man in a violent meeting in Monaco at the Grand Prix, has been found dead in his jail cell after an explosion occurred yesterday. Investigations are being carried out by the police and officials..."_

Tony tuned out the rest of the news anchors voice, still processing her previous words. Ivan Vanko was dead. He just imagined how that looked in the eyes of the government. One day he comes face to face to fight Iron Man, threatening the lives of everyone he cared about, and the next he's blown up in a jail cell. He knew this wouldn't be the last time his name would be brought up in the same sentence as Vanko's. He was still so curious as to how Ivan knew he was suffering the palladium in his chest, and what he had done to deserve an enemy who craved such revenge.

"Jarvis," he called out, staring at the headlines still. "Get me everything on Anton and Ivan Vanko. Everything and anything."

"Shall I pause the diagnostics?" Jarvis questioned.

"No, no keep them going." he shook his head. "Just get me the information."

* * *

Rebecca and Ben walked out of the movies laughing wildly with each other, ignoring the looks that people were giving them. People had been staring at Rebecca all evening, mostly when they were at the restaurant, but she hardly even cared when Ben paid no attention to them. Everyone treated her like she was such a big deal, mostly because she was Tony Stark's daughter, the next generation for Stark Industries and now her dad was Iron Man, and she was worried Ben would get overwhelmed by the attention, but he didn't care. His attention hadn't even strayed to the cameras or the eyes looking their way, instead his attention was on the giggling girl in front of him for the whole night.

"I've had such a good time." she leant back on the passenger side door, looking up at the stars. "I don't want to go home." Rebecca sighed at the sight of the beautiful night sky before realizing she had said that last part out loud.

"Well, we don't _have_ to go home yet." he shook his head. "Do you have a curfew?"

Rebecca thought to herself. It was already 10pm, but she really didn't want the night to end, not when she was having so much fun. She wondered if her dad would be mad, but she didn't even consider the consequences in the mood she was in.

"No, no curfew." she smiled. "Why? Where are you thinkin'?"

Ben gestured for her get in the car, and he soon explained where they were going.

"The view...you won't understand until you see it." he tried to describe it.

Rebecca, once again, flung her arm out the window to dance in the night breeze as they drove down the highway. Ben turned up the radio and started to sing one of the classic rock ballads that came on, and Rebecca couldn't resist in joining him. It felt surreal. She was being a teenager, a typical seventeen year old girl, she was having fun for once. She didn't have to worry about the government and her dad, Iron Man's problems, Pepper working so much, adjusting to Natalie, nothing. She was completely carefree in the moment, and she couldn't have been happier.

"How far away is this place?" she asked when they passed numerous signs.

"Not far, I promise," he looked over to her. "In fact, there's the turn off."

Rebecca looked for any signs as to where they were as they drove off the highway and into a small town, similar to a tourist park. She had no idea this place even existed, although she never actually visited these places. Ben seemed to know where he was going though, and soon they were heading up a small car trail that seemed to get sandier.

"Are we near the beach or something?" Rebecca joked at the surroundings.

Ben shook his head. "Close. It's a small little lake, it comes in from the ocean, but it's pretty quiet here." he slowed down when they came to a clearing on the trail, pulling up right next to the make-shift boardwalk that surrounded the water. "I used to come here when I was little, and I like to visit it now, only at night when the moon reflects off of it, it's...I don't know, it just makes you feel better when you're near it. It's weird I know."

Rebecca gazed at the crystallized water in front of her and followed him out of the car. "It's not weird, Ben. This place means a lot to you," she smiled. "I can see why, it's beautiful."

Ben grinned and walked over to the boardwalk, signaling for her to join him as he looked out over the water. There were houses on the other side, no doubt expensive, and their lights provided that extra beauty as it glistened on top of the rippling water.

"I thought you might like it here. It's quiet, no one bothers you." he smiled, looking into her eyes as if to convey what he meant by that. "You can come here, and just forget."

No cameras, no flashing lights, no peering eyes, no reporters yelling, it was just peacefulness. Rebecca smiled to herself at the fact that Ben had introduced her to this place, his own little hideaway where he escaped the daily frustrations and worries, and he was willing to share it with her, knowing what a chaotic life she lived.

Rebecca didn't break his stare, she just widened her grin to the point she had to laugh. "This place is amazing." she looked around all of the trees surrounding them and the relaxing sound of the water hitting up against the wooden boardwalk. "I wonder what the water's like."

Ben leant down on the edge and scooped up and handful of water, letting it run through his fingers. "It's just right." he scooped up another handful and tossed it over onto Rebecca's ankles, watching as she jumped back in surprise. "See for yourself."

Rebecca walked over and took a few steps away from Ben to lean down and reach, but as luck would have it, she got more than a handful of water. The wooden paling that held the croaky boardwalk together caved away under her foot at the edge and she felt herself falling into the water.

"Whoa!" Ben jumped up and rushed over, catching her before she made or completely into the water with his hands under her shoulders, supporting her weight. "I got you."

Rebecca gasped in shock at what had just happened, breathing heavily, and then she concentrated on getting out of the water that happened to be deeper than she thought. She was up to her waist in water, and she could feel that she had lost her shoes which barely fit her feet anyway. Ben lifted her out of the water and pulled her up onto the safer side of the boardwalk, kneeling down beside her.

"Are you okay?" he asked, concerned as he looked over her legs for any cuts or splinters.

Rebecca nodded, still trying to steady her breathing from the shock of plummeting into the water. "I'm fine." she assured him.

Ben still looked worried as he sat beside her, but she soon changed his attitude when she began laughing at what had just happened. She began giggling lightly, causing him to smile at her response, but she was soon cackling wildly at her bad luck.

"That wouldn't happen to_ anyone_ but me, I'm a bad luck magnet." she told him between laughs. "But you were right," she calmed a little bit, smiling brightly at him. "the water was just right."

Ben laughed along with her, laying down onto the boardwalk next to her as she continued to chuckle at the situation.

"Hey, everyone has funny first-date stories." he laughed, but then realized what he said to her, and by then it was too late to fix it.

"So, this was a _date?_" she questioned, sitting up on her elbows.

Ben nervously fumbled for words, as usual, as he mentally chastised himself for saying that. "Well...I mean...no...yeah- not _really_- uh...I'm sorry." he sighed. "I'm not good...at this."

Rebecca watched as he shook his head with embarrassment, running his hand over his face. She reached out to his hand and sat hers on top. "Hey, if this was a first-date, then I can't wait for the next.

* * *

Natalie looked up from her work on the couch as she heard the front door open and close. Pepper, who sat next to her doing work as well, didn't even look up. Soon, Rhodey was in the living room watching on as the television reported once again on Iron Man and the fact he had become such a target to the government.

"Where is he?" Rhodey asked, hoping for a response off whoever spoke first.

Natalie looked over to him. "He doesn't want to be disturbed."

"He's downstairs." Pepper told him, ignoring Natalie's previous words.

Pepper was too busy on the phone to journalists and reporters to worry about whether or not Tony would accept visitors. It was Rhodey, after all. As CEO of the company, Pepper was required to answer to the public's concerns and maintain Stark Industries' reputation within the media.

_"His continuing erratic behavior may lead people to ask themselves can this man still protect us?"_ The reporter spoke.

"Iron Man never stopped protecting us, the events in Monaco proved that." Pepper defended, frustrated at all of the different comments from these people.

Rhodey thought it best to leave the two women be, they were clearly busy. However, Natalie's words did ring on him. Tony didn't want to be disturbed, but he worried there was something more to it.

_"Anton Vanko was a Soviet physicist who defected to the United States in 1963. However he was accused of espionage and was deported in 1967. His son Ivan, who is also a physicist, was convicted of selling Soviet weapons with Plutonium to Pakistan, and served 15 years in prison. No further records exist_." Jarvis reported the information he had dug up of the Vanko family.

Tony looked over all of the newspaper articles and headlines that the name Vanko had made, making sure he was well educated on the man. Even though he was no deceased, Tony still held a great sense of curiosity as to what his threatening words had means and what his father had done that was so personal. It was hard hard to concentrate, however, when he could feel himself becoming dizzy. He knew he needed to change the palladium core in his chest, but he has been trying so hard to preserve them, although times like this called for it. His face was covered in the veiny, dark lines that had ascended from his arc reactor as a symptom of his condition. Then, the door to his workshop opened and he didn't even bother looking over.

"Tony, you gotta get upstairs and get on top of this situation _right_ now." Rhodey ordered. "Listen, I've been on the phone with the national guard all day, trying to talk them out of rolling tanks up, knocking down your front door and _taking_ these.'' he pointed to the collection of metal suits Tony had around the room. ''They're going to _take_ your suits Tony, this isn't a game. You said nobody else would possess this technology for 20 years. Well, guess what? Somebody else had it_ yesterday_. It's not theoretical any more." When he finished, Tony still hadn't said a word. He felt horrible, he couldn't even move without feeling overwhelmed with dizziness and exhaustion. "Are you_ listening_ to me?" Rhodey walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder, turning him to face his friend. His eyes were dark and droopy as if he hadn't slept or was dosed up on something, neither of which being the case. "Are you okay?"

Tony took a moment to realize his friend's hand on his shoulder, shaking him to come to from this daze he was in, but he could only blankly stare back at Rhodey, waiting for his body to respond to his movements.

"Yep." he stifled a smile and opened the opposite side door, sliding himself out, and then almost collapsing to the ground.

"Whoa, whoa," Rhodey hurried over, picking him up an throwing his arm over his shoulder for support. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Tony breathed uneasily. "I just need to get to my desk."

Rhodey nodded and immediately helped his friend over to the brightly lit desk, setting him down on the chair. Rhodey had never seen him like this before. So fragile, but only now it showed. Tony ignored that fact Rhodey was watching on and he lifted his shirt, removing the sex reactor from his chest to take out the palladium core that was in the worst possible shape.

"Is that meant to be smoking like that?" Rhodey asked, watching as Tony lifted it from the reactor and handed it to him.

"It's just...a little..." Tony avoided the issue.

Rhodey gave him an uncertain look. "You put this inside your_ body_?"

Tony ignored the issue of his health, turning to the bottle of pre-mixed liquid that helped slow down the symptoms of that palladium. He had upped the dosage of this icky looking drink, hoping to drastically change the effects. He looked over his shoulder to Rhodey and saw him staring back.

"What are you looking at?" Tony asked, turning away from him again.

"I'm looking at you." Rhodey spoke firmly. "You're doing this whole lone gunslinger act, and it's unnecessary. You don't have to do this alone."

"Yeah, I beg to differ."

For another ten minutes Rhodey tried his best to reason with Tony and somehow help him through this whole thing with the government. He had been there an watched as his friend rose up to the name of Iron Man, protected the citizens and the country, and he wasn't about to stand by and watch them take all that he had worked for.

"Is Bec not home yet?" Tony walked into the kitchen at 11, looking around the living room on his way.

Pepper sat at the kitchen bench by herself, sipping at a coffee and reading on her laptop. "No," she looked up at him. "but don't worry, it's a Saturday night, 11pm is not exactly late for teenagers."

Tony frowned and walked over to the refrigerator, looking for something to eat, and setting on leftover pizza. He took a seat at the stool opposite Pepper's side of the bench and watched as she immersed herself into whatever was on her laptop screen.

"You need to go to bed," he commented when he heard her yawn. "Seriously, you've been working all day."

Pepper shook her head. "No, this needs to be done. I'm fine."

"No, you're exhausted." he argued. "This CEO thing isn't working out is it-"

"I'm fine, Tony." she looked up. "There's just been a lot to deal with today."

Tony felt the guilt rise inside of him, knowing he was the cause of all the trouble yet he spent all day down in the workshop. Pepper worked too much, he knew that, and if she was still his personal assistant, he'd send her home with the words of he was the boss. However, now Pepper was the boss, and he had lost that power.

"Thanks," he spoke quietly.

"For what?" Pepper asked, keeping her eyes on whatever he was reading.

"For taking care of everything. For being _able_ to deal with it and put up with me." he smiled faintly. "It's just...I know it's not your job any more, and I appreciate that you still...take care of me."

Pepper didn't know how long she'd been staring at the same word on her screen, too taken by Tony's words. "I know it's not my job any more Tony," she looked over to him, ignoring her work for the moment. "But that doesn't mean I stopped caring. I'll _always_ care, and believe it or not, I can't _help_ taking care of you." Tony's lips tugged into a smile. "Stupid me, I know."

Tony let out a soft chuckle. "Yeah, I guess I can be kind of...well, _me_."

"True," she smiled. "What did Rhodey want?"

Tony instantly stopped his laughter at the mention of his conversation with his friend. Ultimately it resulted in Tony assuring him he'd fix this mess, he was just having an off day, it was the jet lag, he promised he's sort it out. In other words, he lied.

"Nothing too important." he shook he head. "Same old speech about what I should be doing and y'know, the usual stuff."

"He's just trying to help you." Pepper justified. "We all are. You don't have to do this alone."

Tony sighed. "Yes, I _do_. Pepper, this is _all me_. I started this, I made Iron Man, I made him public and now the whole world knows. It's all me, and _I'll_ fix it."

Pepper looked saddened that he would put all of the blame and guilt on himself when hardly any of it was true. She wished he wouldn't let himself believe what the government said about him, and that he'd see what a change he had made on the world, and all the good he had done.

"No, Tony," she shook her head. "You're _not_ doing this alone. This person that government is talking about, the guy potentially capable of such a threat and danger, the guy that they're saying has caused nothing but trouble, that's _not_ you." she looked at him seriously. "I_ know_ you Tony, I know it isn't you. You can't let yourself be manipulated by them. We can fix this, I promise."

Tony smiled at her words, overwhelmed that she held such hopes for him and believed in what he stood for, which the government didn't. Even though she was telling him all of these wonderful things, he couldn't help thinking of the secret he was keeping from her. She held all these hopes for him, promised to help him through the whole thing, and yet he didn't even know if he's be here for it. He was dying, and no one knew, and he was only just coming to terms with the fact that no matter how hard he tried, he wasn't finding a cure.

"That means a lot to me." he spoke, looking at her with a seriousness that held no sense of humor, only genuineness.

Pepper looked back at him with adoring eyes, appreciating this moment of vulnerability he was allowing her to see. "Well," she took a breath. "I mean it."

* * *

Rebecca and Ben sat on top of the hood of his car, relaxing in the moonlight as they continued to stare across the gorgeous water. It was safe to say Rebecca's dress was ruined considering it was drenched in dirty water from her waist down, not to mention she had lost her shoes in the water. She was amazed at how much her and Ben could talk about so much and never lose interest in the conversation. He told her of his dreams to be an engineer when he left school, but he hoped to go to university first. It made Rebecca as though she had missed out on a lot of her teenage years by leaving school and doing all of her degrees and courses at such a young age, but she had the brains to do it, and school wasn't exactly her favorite place to be.

It hit 11.45pm when Ben looked at his watch, shocked at how quickly the time had gone, and he figured they'd better head back soon.

"I don't want to go." Rebecca whined. "This has been...the best night, honestly."

Ben agreed, settling back into his position against his windscreen and the hood of the car. "I'm really glad you had a good time."

"I'm glad you asked me to do this." she looked down to him as she sat up. "I haven't felt like a teenager for such a long time. I feel so..._normal_."

"We'll make it a regular thing then," he suggested. "Every...well, on the nights I get off work, we'll come back here, and we'll go to a new place each time."

Rebecca grinned. "Yeah, I'd like that."

They drifted into another silence yet again, but none of them were uncomfortable, they were peaceful. Rebecca laid back against the windscreen alongside him, looking up into the sky at the stars that littered the darkness, and they just watched. When Rebecca reached her hand down to the bottom of her dress for a moment, she met his on the way back, fumbling together.

"Sorry," he spoke quietly.

Rebecca didn't speak though, instead their fingers naturally intertwined together and they held each other's hand, continuing to stare up into the night sky in silence, neither of them wanting to break the moment. Although, as it must, that moment ended ten minutes later when Rebecca's eyes began to close for longer than a few moments, showing how tired she had become. Ben insisted he drive her hole despite her protests that she wanted to stay where they were, unsure of whether the peacefulness of this place was the reason she had become restless. He made sure she was strapped into the car seat before he watched her head tilt toward the window, her eyes closing again, and he smiled at the simplistic innocence in that very movement. He drove them back to Rebecca's house, or rather mansion, in silence with no radio at all, just the breeze flying past their windows.

Ben woke her up when they reached her driveway, gently nudging her in the side to see if she was asleep or just closing her eyes.

''Huh? Here already?" she spoke in a crackly voice. "That was quick."

Ben laughed. "Not really, you just slept most of the way."

Rebecca cringed, wiping her eyes tiredly. "Oh, god, I'm sorry." she apologized as he stepped out of the car, Ben following behind her to the door.

"Don't be," he smiled. "falling into a lake does that to you."

Rebecca playfully hit his arm at the memory, laughing as well. "Hey, I've got bad luck, you've been warned."

"Least I saved you." he beamed, proud of that feat. "You could've gone completely under, but I saved you."

Rebecca giggled. "Oh, my _hero_, my hero." she joked. "I had a really good time, I mean it. I haven't had that much fun in...I...can't even remember."

"Well, I'm glad, and I can say the same for myself. I like being with you, it's like...I don't know, I can just be myself." Ben told her.

"Exactly." she agreed, and then she involuntarily yawned.

"I think you better go to bed." Ben laughed. He reached his hand out after noticing a speck of dirt from the boardwalk, and without thinking he wiped it away. "Uh, I guess that I'll see you soon." It sounded like a question.

"Definitely," she nodded. "I'll text you tomorrow."

"Okay, well," he nodded along. "Goodnight then,"

"Yeah, goodnight," she smiled back at him, but neither of them actually moved away.

The moment definitely reminded her of one from a movie where the guy would give the girl a shy kiss goodnight, or something clumsy would happen and break the moment, but she didn't know which would happen. Ben smiled and moved closer to her, still nervously wondering if she would think it would be too much too soon, but given the tiny smile on her face, he assumed it was okay. Rebecca took an inch step closer and looked up to him, both smiling like little kids, but the moment broke with Pepper opening the door beside them, stepping out to see them in the stance she recognized immediately. Her jaw dropped and she covered her mouth with her hands in disbelief that she had ruined their moment.

"Oh, _god_, I'm _so_ sorry!" she tried to turn away, but it was too late, she had already stepped out and interrupted. "I didn't mean to- Oh god!"

Rebecca stepped back from Ben, turning to look at Pepper. "Hey, don't worry about it. We were just saying goodnight."

"Just saying goodnight." Ben repeated, smiling to Pepper politely.

Pepper sighed, accepting the fact that the moment couldn't be repaired. "Hi, I'm Pepper Potts."

Ben smiled and took her hand that was outstretched toward him, greeting her formally. "Ms. Potts, heard a lot about you. I'm Ben. White."

"Yes, I've heard about you too." Pepper grinned. "It's nice to meet you, I'm afraid I'm leaving now though, I worked a bit later than usual."

"Okay, goodnight then." Rebecca called as Pepper walked away into the driveway to her car, but not before flashing an apologetic look her way.

Ben slid his hands into his pocket and looked around awkwardly, wondering what to do now. It was probably for the best that Pepper interrupted them, he didn't want to rush things or pressure Rebecca in any way.

"Well goodnight then, I'll talk to you tomorrow." he finally broke the silence, walking back to his car.

"Yeah," she called back. "'night."

Rebecca watched as he turned the headlights on and drove out of her driveway, and she couldn't help but smile at the entire night and how much she enjoyed herself. She turned back to the door and quietly walked through, wondering if her dad would be up waiting for her. The living room was empty, and so was the kitchen, so she made her way to her bedroom.

"How was your night?" Tony's voice startled her as he too walked down the hallway.

Rebecca gasped, and then that same smile returned to her face. "It was..._really_ fun."

Tony's lips tugged into a smile. "Good, you deserved a night out. And he seems really nice."

Rebecca raised her eyebrow. "Were you spying?"

Tony raised his hands in defense. "Uh uh, no way. I just accidentally caught the last few minutes."

"Oh," she nodded to herself, knowing he probably listened in on the whole thing. "You're not mad? I mean, it's past midnight."

Tony shook his head. "Nope. That's what teenagers do on a Saturday night, so I've been told." He leant his shoulders against the wall, glad that the "high-tech crossword puzzle'', as Rhodey called it, had settled down in his neck, fading. "So, do I get to meet him or what?"

Rebecca laughed. "He's just my friend, dad."

Tony rolled his eyes. "Don't give me that, I saw the way you two looked at each other."

"So you _were_ spying." she countered.

"Uh, like I said, I caught the last few...seconds, maybe minutes I don't know." he defended.

"How?" she narrowed her eyes. "Through the peephole in the door?"

Tony bit down on his lip, looking around the hallway, trying to avoid answering. "What happened to you?" he pointed to her dirty dress and bare feet.

Rebecca held him a laugh, remembering the incident. "Um, I'll fill you in tomorrow." she yawned. "I'm pretty tired."

Tony smiled at her obvious glow of happiness, having not seen her like this in so long. "Okay," he walked over and gave her a kiss on her forehead, not wanting to take this moment for granted. "Goodnight kiddo."

Rebecca smiled as her dad walked past her on his way to the kitchen, enjoying the very domestic moment they just shared. It had been so long since they had both been in such a mood, it was nice. Although, she was completely unaware of the fact that her dad was dying, and his condition was deteriorating with each passing moment. It made him want to take advantage of those moments with Rebecca, because even though he hadn't lost hope for himself yet, he wanted to make sure she was happy and she was getting on with her teenage life instead of following in the Stark footsteps of being consumed by the media and the public.

* * *

**Eeek, I hope you guys liked this chapter! It was a quick update, I had it already written and ready and well, I thought I'd put it straight up now. I really want to give Rebecca happy times in her life, but it's all part of the storyline, so things will get more intense and exciting as the chapters go on. I wanted to highlight in this chapter Tony's condition and how it was worsening, just to show how his behaviors begins to change and things like that. I threw in the Pepper and Tony scene for a reviewer, and I know it was short, but that's because I had so much to write so I promise a better one next chapter...most likely. Please review, I love hearing from you all and anything you want to see specifically. Thank you for reading!**


	10. Chapter 10

There it was sitting before her in the bench, completed. It was the first attachment she had had built for herself, and it was the lower leg part of a suit with fitted thrust capacitors. Tony had gone out for the day to Stark Industries with a few more things he needed to sort out, and Rebecca had been down in the workshop all day due to the freedom. Even after all she had agreed to with her dad, she couldn't help still feel the need to continue with her project she had been obsessing with.

"Jarvis, do a scan and comparison." she ordered, watching as the blue holograms scanned over the attachment.

She was hoping to replicate the same model at the Mark 7, the newest model and hoped she had done everything correctly.

"The attachment is a 97% match of the Mark 7 technology." Jarvis informed her.

Rebecca smiled, thrilled that she had gotten this far. Each day she would commit a few hours here and there to manufacturing the pieces, going steady with production since she was still unconvinced about whether or not she'd use it. Her dad would most likely kill her if he found out, but she didn't let her mind go that far yet. She had no plans to unveil her work in progress any time soon, and so she kept all of her work in a storage unit she had designed to fit into the floor underneath the old car she was working on. It was untraceable thanks to a few override codes in the system, and Tony had no reason to search for it anyway.

Jarvis had been instructed to inform Rebecca if anyone was in the house and approaching the stairs, giving her enough time to hide whatever she was doing. She lifted the attachment off the bench and slid her leg into the proper position, clipping the metal into place. Arc reactor technology wasn't as hard as she thought to get her hands on. After seeing Ivan Vanko's homemade version, she saw the simplicity in making one. If anyone ever found out, the government couldn't say anything about it since she was Tony's daughter and therefore she had the resources and intelligence to create the energy source, even though she made it herself from scratch just as her father did. She clipped the wires into the small reactor she held in her hands and watched it glow with power.

"All works," she smiled, satisfied. "Alright then."

Rebecca clicked a few things in the screen in front of her, checking off the attachments she needed to work on, finally being able to make one complete. There was a lot of work to be done, but she was in no rush, she still had no idea what she was doing with it yet.

"Miss. Stark," Jarvis's voice gained her attention. "It seems Pepper Potts has arrived."

* * *

Pepper walked around the rooms of the house, finding no one in sight, and she immediately knew where to look next. She headed over to the stairs leading to the workshop, missing the fact that she rarely went down their these days given her change of career. She found herself admitting that she missed the blaring music that almost have her a migraine as she was in the house all day, and the clinking metal of tools, even the weird calls from Tony to come help him with something. As she neared the bottom step, she didn't think Rebecca was down here since there was no music, but she soon heard her voice off into the room.

"No wonder you're called dummy," Rebecca grumbled as the robot still hadn't mastered the challenge of handing her the right equipment. "Lucky I'm only pulling this thing apart, 'cause if I was dealing with _new_ parts here you'd be in trouble." she warned. "Alright, take this, this and this, and hand me the same thing as before." she instructed, handing the pieces of metal to the robot.

Pepper's heels were a giveaway that she had entered the room, and Rebecca refrained from getting up from her position on the ground until she got this piece off.

"Well, this is very...nostalgic." Pepper commented. "Seems like yesterday you brought this thing in, only just holding together."

Rebecca chuckled. "Yeah, and over a year later, I've decided to fix it up." she popped her head around the side of the car. "What's up?"

Pepper shook her head. "Nothing, nothing, I just had to drop off some papers for your dad to sign and I...I _really_ wanted to apologize about last night."

Rebecca sighed. "Pepper, don't wor-"

"No! No I ruined a very...important moment for you, and I'm sorry." she needed to get her apology out. "I'd been so hellbent on stopping your father from doing anything stupid to ruin your night, and then I come out and spoil the whole thing."

"You didn't though." she disagreed. "Nothing could've spoilt my night, and you didn't, so stop worry about it, it's fine."

Pepper huffed and couldn't help still feeling guilty. "Well...are you two..."

"Friends? Yes." she told her. "Anything more? Well, I don't know yet, we've only been out once."

"Do you like him?" Pepper took a seat on the stool next to the car as Rebecca was still working in removing a rather large part from the side.

"Of course I like him!"

"You know what I mean."

Rebecca took a few moments to reply, thinking to herself. "I...I guess I do, yeah. No one's ever...made me feel like that. I felt _normal_, like every other seventeen year old out there. He didn't care about my last name or the cameras or the fact that my whole life has played out in front of the media, he saw me, nothing else."

Pepper smiled at Rebecca's cheerfulness when she spoke about him. For some reason that he couldn't explain, it reminded her of Tony, and the way she saw him. Although the whole world had him painted as this egotistical, arrogant, selfish man who only cared about money and his suits, Pepper saw him as nothing but who he really was. It was amazing how one person could fit so well with another, and be able to see past their flaws and mistakes, just to see the good in them.

"It's just..." Rebecca spoke again, drawing back Pepper's attention. "Since everything with Lucas, I just don't know. I never trusted him, but he still turned out to be completely different to what I thought."

"You're afraid Ben will be the same?" Pepper guessed.

"I don't know, that's the problem." she stopped working. "I feel like I can trust him...but it can't be that easy, can it? I _can't_ have these feelings and trust someone so...soon."

Pepper debated on how to answer her, thinking back through her love-life and relationship records. "I think that when you meet _that_ person, and you know it's right, then it is. It just _is_. You click, and you feel like you've known them for years, inside and out, and you feel like you can trust them with anything, no matter what they've done that makes you think otherwise. Your heart's telling you something by making you feel that way, it's like a sign." she smiled. "You'll know if it's meant to be."

Pepper didn't realize until she finished her speech that she was actually giving herself a pep-talk along with Rebecca, unaware of her own feelings toward Tony. Of course, nothing could happen, their relationship was strictly professional, especially since she was now CEO. Tony would never feel that way for her anyway, she was sure of it given his track record with women, she just didn't fit the criteria, and that's what she had been telling herself for months, years even, to try and repress her feelings, but they were still there, no matter what she told herself each day.

"Thank you," Rebecca gave her a genuine smile. "I, uh, like talking to you...about _this_ stuff. I mean, it's not like my mom's here to help me, but I don't need her, not when you're always here for me."

Pepper's heart warmed at the generous compliment. "You can talk to me about anything. Boys, dating, advice, kissing, and uh, well when you get older-"

"No, no, I got it," Rebecca cut in. "That's okay."

Pepper's lips tugged up at Rebecca's obvious embarrassment, just like all teenagers whenever the topic was brought up by an adult willing to discuss it.

"Alright then," she stood up as Rebecca began banging and digging at the same resistant part. "I've gotta get back to work. You okay here by yourself?"

"I'm fine Pepper." she rolled her eyes dramatically. "I'll probably be down here for a few more hours."

"Okay then, call if you need me." Pepper began walking away toward the door.

Rebecca then remembered something and look up. "Hey Pepper, is dad still at the office?"

"Yeah, filling out forms I finally got him to do. Natalie's supervising, so, I better get back." she laughed. "Uh, there's actually a lot he needs to do, since he hasn't been there in a while, there's still a lot to sort out."

Rebecca nodded along as she was told of her dad's busy schedule for the day, realizing she had more time to begin production on another attachment. She couldn't believe how quickly she was taking her plans to the next level by actually going through with it. It was overtaking her. She still didn't even know if she would use it, but she needed to know it was there.

* * *

Tony was sitting in Pepper's new office, looking around lazily as he finally escaped Natalie long enough to find a new hiding spot, although it wouldn't be long until he was found again. The office was overly spacious, surrounded by thick glass window-walls that showed the city below. It was every bit the relaxing environment, but Tony figured Pepper didn't look up from her work long enough to be able to indulge in the relaxing aspect of it all. His legs were tossed over the arms of her leather office chair, his body contorted into a position that looks uncomfortable.

"Mr. Stark." Natalie's voice made him jump as she opened the door quickly. "I see you've finished all of the paperwork Ms. Potts has assigned. Am I correct?" she asked politely.

Tony grumbled something before putting on his most believable and charming smile. "Yeah, all done."

Natalie smirked, placing another pile of sheets in front of him. "Great. These need to be reviewed, Ms. Potts said it was essential you did so."

Tony narrowed his eyes at her. "Aren't you _my_ assistant? I wasn't aware Pepper could assign things to you."

"I work for Stark Industries. I may be your personal assistant, but ultimately Ms. Potts has the final word." Natalie explained.

Tony made a surprised expression. "That's...interesting." he commented, trying to make a conversation to divert the attention away from the work he needed to do. "So, where did you say you were from?"

Just as he was hoping to get an answer, a familiar figure walked through the door. "Tony, _please_ tell me you finished that paperwork, it needed to be finalized today."

Pepper didn't seem to mind that Tony was in the chair seeing as she ignored his presence by opening up her laptop and emails. Tony watched on as she concentrated on reading the new messages she had received.

"Yes, I have." he smiled proudly. "And I'm about to start reading these now." he picked up the file of papers.

Pepper sighed, relieved. "Thank you."

"You're welcome, anything to help out, hey boss?" he smiled up at her.

Pepper chuckled as she leant down beside him to see her emails. "Boss, huh?"

"Well, officially."

"We all know I've been the boss of you before I was CEO." she quipped.

Tony laughed, swinging around in the chair. "Whatever."

Natalie stood back in the middle of the room as she observed Pepper and Tony joking around together. In a way, she knew she would never fill the shoes of Pepper, she was basically part of the family anyway, but she tried anyway. She couldn't help smile at the relationship they shared, whether it be professional or if there really were feelings hidden amongst them, despite their constant bickering.

"Natalie," Tony called out. "Any chance of a coffee run? I'll have a double shot espresso, Pepper will have a vanilla latte." he told her, memorizing his and Pepper's usual orders.

"Yes Mr. Stark." Natalie nodded, walking out of the office and closing the door behind her.

Tony felt better once the door was closed, he felt a sense of security and privacy like they were hidden in this building, away from the prying eyes. "I gotta say, she's different. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining," Pepper glared at his remark. "but she's _too._..different."

Pepper sighed. "How so?"

Tony got up to his feet and began pacing around the office while Pepper took his place in the leather chair. "She just...I'm not...it's not that she gets stuff wrong, it just feels too professional."

At this, Pepper snorted a laugh. "Too professional? How dare anyone drive Tony Stark to the point of professionalism."

Tony frowned. "Hey, I can be professional, just not in my own house." he defended. "She refers to me as Mr. Stark all the time, not once had she called me Tony, she uses fancy, professional lingo, addresses me formally all the time, and I just...I _miss_ you."

Pepper looked up from her laptop at his last words, seeing Tony still pacing the room, clearly aware of what he had just admitted. Tony couldn't help miss her, he missed her like crazy everyday and he couldn't stop that feeling overwhelming him. He wanted Pepper to be the one whose voice he heard when his music was turned down in the workshop, he wanted Pepper to be the one informing him what he needed to do for the day with that same, bored tone as she knew he wouldn't be doing it. He missed the routine.

"It'll take time to adjust to a new assistant." Pepper explained.

"I don't want to adjust." he muttered, barely audible.

"You what?" Pepper asked, not hearing his words.

"Nothing," he shook his head. "I, uh, what do you need me to do? I'm here, I'm your man for the day."

Pepper grinned at his forced enthusiasm, pushing the file of papers over that he needed to review. He soon kicked them up and sprawled out on the couch she had over by the corner, groaning loudly as he began the first page, and then again at the second. Each time he changed the page, in fact, there would be some sound of annoyance or frustration as he did so. It was as if he couldn't work silently, he needed noise.

"There's a radio over there," Pepper told him, pointing beside the couch. "Since the silence isn't working out."

Tony raised his eyebrows. "Won't that bother you?"

"I've grown quite comfortable working with unbelievable volumes of music." she smiled to herself.]

* * *

"No, no, I think you've done enough today Dummy." Rebecca shooed the robot way from next to her as she continued wiring and soldering numerous parts to put together. "Go...clean something, I don't know."

"Miss. Stark, a car has just entered the driveway." Jarvis informed her.

"Who is it?" she jolted up, already packing away what she was working on speedily.

"My system's familiarization database confirms the car was previously here last night and again at 12.00am."

Rebecca instantly had a smile on her face as she locked away her work for the day. "From now on familiarize the car as belonging to Ben White." she instructed Jarvis before heading out the door, pacing up the stairs.

She had a slight spring in her step as she walked through the living room and down the hall toward the front door. Following through on her words, she had texted him earlier that morning, just talking about a few unimportant things, but she hadn't anticipated a visit from him, especially unexpected. She made it to the door and opened it happily, revealing Ben standing there holding her black coat from the previous night.

"Hey," he smiled as he met her. "Uh, you left this in my car."

Rebecca reached out and took the coat from his hand. "Thanks, I probably would've forgotten about it."

"Me too, so I thought I'd bring it back." he leant against the side of the wall to the door, and then he noticed the many dirty marks on her arms and a few in her face. "Oh, I didn't know you were busy, I can go." he offered.

Rebecca shook her head. "No, no, I'm done for the day." she told him, and they soon rested into a comfortable silence again. "Did you want to come in?"

"Uh, yeah, sure, okay." he nodded as Rebecca moved aside, gesturing for him to come inside. He walked in through the door and immediately felt intimidated by the modernness of her home. It was luxurious, the walls were covered with art works, the rooms were huge and the whole place seemed like a mansion from a movie. "Whoa, this place is...it's really cool."

Rebecca gave a slight grin at Ben's impression of the house. "Well, my dad's a modern person, not that he decorated or anything but...he has certain things he likes which are all...uh, a bit over the top." she explained.

Ben continued looking around as they continued into the living room, realizing he probably sounded way to excited. "Well it looks great." he downplayed his amazement at the inside of the house.

Rebecca threw herself onto the couch and sprawled our comfortably as Ben took a seat on one of the big lounge chairs, leaning back into the soft cushions. They immediately began where there left off on their conversations from the night before, talking about school and all sorts of things. That was one of Rebecca's favorite things about him, the fact they could talk so easily about anything, and they never really became bored of one another. She never really had a friend to talk to about so much, then again, she never really became close to someone as to talk freely with them. It wasn't as if she has trouble making friends, she just wasn't interested. In many ways she excelled amongst her peers, intellectually surpassing them to the point where she gained credits and special courses that allowed her to leave at a young age. But now that Ben was here, she didn't feel that she was missing out on anything.

"Where is everyone?" Ben asked when they ceased talking long enough to realize the silence.

"Stark Industries." she told him. "It's been pretty busy these past few days."

Ben looked around once more and then looked to her nervously. "Would your dad mind that I'm here?"

Rebecca almost smiled at his worrying but didn't want to make him feel silly. "No way. He likes you."

Ben raised his eyebrows. "Me? He _likes_ me? But he's never met me."

Rebecca laughed. "That you know of. He's kinda nosey sometimes."

"Good to know." Ben laughed back. "I'll have to meet him soon."

Rebecca took a moment to think about that. Her dad, possibly the most protective father in the universe as well as Iron Man, meeting Ben, the quiet and nicest guy she's met who can't even form a sentence under pressure without stuttering slightly.

"Yeah, you'll have to."

* * *

Tony felt himself jolt awake as his forehead was scratched by the paper he had been reading that had resulted in his dozing off. After his shock, he looked around the room and seen Pepper still typing away at her laptop.

"Wow, you're awake again." she commented as he let out an involuntary yawn. "And it's only 4.00pm."

Tony groaned, throwing his legs from the couch to the floor. "It's four in the afternoon?"

Pepper nodded, eyes still focused on whatever was on her screen. "You've been asleep for about two hours."

"Why didn't you wake me up?"

Pepper had thought to herself about waking him up a few times during those two hours, but she just couldn't, even after all over the times she has had to nudge him, hold his nose closed, yell at him and even pour water on his face to wake him up during the day, but those days were so long ago. She barely seen him take a break lately, and especially when the drama with the government began, and something seemed a bit off with him, so she let him sleep, occasionally looking over at his peaceful position on the couch.

Pepper shrugged. "Why? You'd only fall asleep again."

"Did I finish all the work?" he yawned again.

"Yes Tony, while you were sleeping, all of the work you were supposed to do got done." she told him sarcastically, trying to hide a smile at her own words.

Tony grumbled, piling up the papers he had on top of him. "I think...I'll head home."

Pepper finally looked up. "Okay, well, could you please take those and finish them? You only have to read them."

"Can't you just pretend I _did_ read them?" he bargained.

"Tony..."

"I got it, I'll read them, don't worry about it." he held his hands up in surrender. He walked over to the door, stopping before he left. "You're uh...you're coming to the party, right?"

Pepper looked over to him, her eyebrows knitting with concern that he would think she wouldn't attend his birthday. "Of course."

Tony's face lit up, a smile spreading at that little piece of knowledge. "Good."

Tony walked down the hallway, headed for the elevator but also looking for Natalie on the way, and he was relieved to find her in one of his offices.

"Mr. Stark, may I help you?" she asked immediately as she seen him.

"No, I'm leaving." he told her. "Take the rest of the day off, I've got some stuff to finish for Pepper."

Natalie nodded as she flashed her usual polite, professional smile. "Alright, I'll see you tomorrow then Mr. Stark."

* * *

"Bec?" Tony called as he walked through the hallway, reaching the kitchen and dumping the small pile of papers on the bench.

"In here!" Rebecca called out from the living room.

Tony grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator before he left the kitchen for the living room. Rebecca was sprawled out across the couch, her arm dangling off the side lazily as she watched the television. She had grease and dirty marks all over her arms and forehead, proof of her busy down in the workshop.

Rebecca looked up at her dad. ''You okay? You look tired.''

Tony knew she was referring to his exhausted appearance, but he couldn't help feeling self-concious that his symptoms were coming back. ''Yeah, had to read a lot.'' he told her. "Been working on the car?" Tony asked, taking a seat across from her.

Rebecca nodded. "Not even half-way to making it look decent, or even working at all."

"I could always help out-"

"No! This is _my_ thing. You've for your suit, I've got my car." she explained.

Tony raised his eyebrows. "I let you help me out all the time with the suit."

"Yeah, because I'm the only one who _can_." she laughed. "This is different though, it's my little project, and when it's finished I have the satisfaction of knowing that I did it."

Tony smiled at her reasoning, at the fact she had the same dedication to working on things as he did, probably from watching him since she was little. They talked for a while once they finished their arguing over their individual work, and the conversation rolled into the topic of Tony's birthday party. Rebecca had almost forgotten about the party itself since she no longer heard Tony and Pepper discussing it as she used to. It was usually just a reason for everyone to come over to their house or some fancy venue, get drunk and party all night, no one really cared if it was Tony's birthday, they just wanted to be there for his famous parties.

"Are you going to bring Ben along?" Tony asked, taking Rebecca by surprise.

"Um, I haven't really thought about asking him."

"Oh come on! I'm sure he's _dying_ to meet me." Tony smirked. "He is."

Rebecca softly chuckled at her dad's arrogance. "Oh yeah, he can't wait."

"Is he scared of me? He's scared isn't he?"

Rebecca narrowed her eyes. "Why would he be scared of you?"

"Uh, because meeting the father can be a very terrifying, intimidating, _horrible_ experience." he told her. "Especially when he's Iron Man."

Rebecca groaned and threw her face into the pillow in frustration. "Dad, we're not together. We've been out once." she told him.

Tony nodded. "Oh, I see then. So, did you see him again today?"

Rebecca paused. "Well, yeah..." she looked over to her dad who was smiling at the fact he had proven his point. "But only because he had to give me back my coat."

Tony smiled at his daughter's denial. "Yeah, okay then. I still think you should invite him to the party."

"I'll think about it." she smiled at her dad's interest in meeting him. "Anyway, I'm going for a shower."

Tony watched as she walked out of the room, not even mad that she had left a mark on the cushions from the grease and grime that she had on her arms. He didn't want to take the whole over-protective approach to this new boy in her life, not after she had proven to him that he earned his trust, but he still quietly observed him, searching his records and such, all clean. He sat there in silence for a while longer, feeling his desire to just lay down and sleep creeping back, but he knew he had too much to do, so he headed back down the stairs toward the workshop with no intention of sleep any time soon.

* * *

**Hope you guys liked that chapter! I have a lot planned for next chapter, so I hope this chapter and it's dragging on with a rather boring theme wasn't too annoying. I needed to write this one to set some things, so I'm sorry if you didn't enjoy it. Anyway, please review and let me know what you think. Thanks for reading!**


	11. Chapter 11

Rebecca was sitting at the kitchen bench enjoying her bowl of Cap'n Crunch, as much as she could since she woke up too early for her liking, when she heard footsteps approaching. Natalie appeared in the room seconds later, carrying the same little black clipboard folder she always did to keep track of Tony's schedule and other important documents. She smiled politely toward Rebecca and walked over to the other side of the bench.

"Good morning Miss S- uh, Rebecca, sorry." she greeted, remembering Rebecca had insisted on ignoring the formalities. "I've been meaning to ask you a few thing about your fathers party tonight."

Rebecca finished her mouthful of cereal as she nodded. "Like what?"

"Well, will you be bringing someone?" she asked, picking up her pen.

Rebecca thought it was an odd question considering it wasn't really important information. "Uh, not that I know of, but maybe."

Natalie wrote down a few words that Rebecca couldn't make out from her position. "Mhmm, and did you plan on saying a few words?"

"No, I didn't." Rebecca narrowed her eyes. "This is just a party isn't it? Nothing's been changed, right?"

Natalie shook her head. "No, nothing's been changed, there's just a lot to figure out. It's up to me to organize this thing, I just need as much information as possible."

"Okay," Rebecca finished her cereal silently as Natalie scribbled a few words into her file. "So, I'm guessing this place is going to be busy today?"

Natalie raised her eyebrows high and nodded. "Incredibly. I have a lot to sort out and arrange, there'll be people here setting things up and I need to form lists and...well, I won't bore you with details."

"Well, I'll stay out of your way then." Rebecca offered, moving her now empty bowl over to the dishwasher.

Natalie flipped her clipboard shut and walked out of the room to take a call, and she looked every bit the party planner. She was right though, there was indeed a lot of work that needed to be done for a party at Tony Stark's mansion of a home, and there would sure be a lot of people. Rebecca had been thinking of inviting Ben ever since her dad suggested it, but she didn't want Ben to think that this is what her life was like. Parties at her house with strangers wandering around, people coming up to her and asking her questions, acting as if she knew these people and was comfortable with the whole thing. She didn't want Ben to think that, but she wanted him there so she wouldn't be alone, and so she continued her consideration.

* * *

Tony had been down in the workshop for most of the day, frantically running even more tests while searching absolutely everywhere he could think of for another option he might have, but hope was slowly fading. He had made it this far, still alive, and although that was an achievement given his condition, it only meant his time was running out. He needed a stronger, more durable element, but the problem with that was that there weren't any other elements known. He had combined elements to create a stronger force, but none of them weighed up to the palladium, and therefore they were useless.

"Tony?" Pepper's voice came over the intercom through her office phone. "Are you there?"

Tony brought his thoughts back, moving over to the intercom to respond. "Yeah, what's up?"

"I've got Natalie calling me up, asking things about your party." she explained. "Stop hiding out down there and go help."

"Hey, I never had to help _you_ out when you did that stuff." he pointed out.

"Yes, because I made decisions_ for_ you. Natalie is new, this is the first time she's doing this, and you're parties aren't exactly low key."

Tony sighed. "Fine, I'll help with whatever she needs to know, but she has to come to me, I'm busy."

"I'm sure you are." Pepper spoke in a sarcastic tone. "I'll let her know."

"What? No happy birthday?" Tony smirked.

"You have a houseful of people there in a few hours to honor your birthday, and yet you pick up on me not saying it straight away." she laughed.

"I don't care about them though." he admitted.

Pepper took a moment to reply, most likely smiling at Tony's comment. "Happy birthday, Tony."

"Why, thank you Ms. Potts." Tony smiled widely.

"I'll see you at the party."

Tony pushed his feet along the ground, dragging his chair over to his main computer, checking tests he had run and searches he had conducted. Unsurprisingly, all results came back either failed or negative searches, and he was back to square one. He ran his fingers lazily through his hair, letting out a long, exasperated sigh at his failure to find anything that could help him. Then, a thought occurred to him. This could very well be his final birthday, his final everything. He had no idea how long before his condition worsened to the point where he would ultimately lose his life, and that thought alone scared him more than anything. He couldn't die. He couldn't leave Rebecca without a father, he refused to, but there was only so much he could control about what was happening to him, and his life was no longer within that control. He couldn't stand the thought, but he couldn't take his mind off the fact he might not be here much longer, and he wanted to make the most of what he feared would be his last birthday

"Dad?" Rebecca's voice came down the staircase. Tony quickly shut down all evidence of his research and testing, switching over to an upgrade for the suit he had been working on. "Dad? You down here?"

"Yeah," he called back, turning in his chair to see her opening the door. "I'm hiding."

"I know," she walked over to him. "Natalie keeps asking me stuff, so I'm gonna hide out too." Tony picked up his cup of now cold coffee, taking a gulp and ignoring the temperature as Rebecca jumped up and sat on the bench. "So, do you feel old yet?"

Tony chuckled. "Most people say 'happy birthday'."

Rebecca soon decided to work on her car a while longer as she mused over the idea of going to see Ben. She assumed he must've been working since he hadn't replied to her texts, and so she mentally argued with herself about whether or not she should go see him. Tony ignored Rebecca's protests by helping work on the car as well, going straight for the engine as Rebecca worked from underneath it.

"So do you know anyone whose coming tonight?" Rebecca asked, struggling to undo a few bolts.

"Of course I do," Tony answered. "I've seen them before...somewhere."

Rebecca frowned. "Then why'd you invite them?"

"Because I love when people I don't know come to my house and drink all of my booze and trash the place." he spoke sarcastically. "It's just better. Keep up the reputation and what not."

"You don't have to do what everyone thinks you should do." Rebecca pointed out. "It's not _their_ life."

Tony thought about her words, trying to defend his logic but he couldn't even see the reasoning for himself, and so he decided to change the subject. "Did you order those parts for this thing?"

"Yeah, but they won't be here for a few days yet." she told him, finally undoing the bolt she'd been working on for a few minutes. "And I don't want Dummy anywhere near them, don't want a repeat of last time."

Tony chuckled at the memory. "Got it."

When Rebecca finally wheeled herself out from underneath the engine part of the car holding the piece she had been in pursuit of, something on her father's neck caught her eye. It was dark, almost black, but it had a shine like silver, little lines spiraling, and it didn't look good.

"Hey," she pointed at his neck. "What's that?"

Tony immediately knew what she was talking about. "Oh, uh, just a few marks from the last time I had the suit on, hard to get off." he lied, covering.

Rebecca seemed suspicious, but most likely on what he was doing in the suit to cause the marks rather than his words. "Oh," she nodded as Tony lifted his shirt, trying to hide it. "That's weird, it's never done that before."

Tony shrugged. "Yeah, I guess I should look into it."

Rebecca then let go of the issue, saying nothing more as she three the old scrap car part over into the metal waste bin she had set up.

For the next hour, they worked rather silently on the car, the only noise the clinking of metal and then, as the hour went on, the roar of the sound system as Tony turned on his favorite classic rock playlist. Rebecca was working away on a portion of the wheel bearings when her cell vibrated on the bench top and Tony, who was standing right next to it working on something else, couldn't help see Ben's name flash in the screen.

"It's from Ben." Tony told her casually, continuing on with his work.

"Mhmm," Rebecca acknowledged, but she didn't bother to get up and read the message.

A few more minutes went on and her phone vibrated once more, another text message from Ben.

"It's from him again." Tony told her, picking up the phone and holding it out for her to grab. "Bec?"

"Huh?" she turned to see him holding it out to her. "I'll get it later."

Tony narrowed his eyes at her odd behavior, setting his tools down. "What's up?"

Rebecca looked confused at her dad's concern. "What?"

"You're ignoring him." he shook the phone in front of her.

"No I'm not."

Tony scoffed. "Deliberately not answering someone? That's ignoring them."

"I'm not ignoring him, I'm busy." she defended. "I'll talk to him later."

"So you invited him to the party?" he asked, curious to know.

Rebecca didn't answer his straight away, she still wasn't convinced on the idea. "Well, no...not yet, anyway."

"Why?"

"I-I don't know." she shrugged. "I haven't got around to it."

Tony then threw the phone to her, knowing she would catch it. "Then do it now."

"Why do you me to invite him so badly?" she questioned his behavior.

Tony shrugged lazily. "Seems like a nice kid. I wanna meet him."

"See,_ that's_ what's bothering me." she pointed out. "Not once have you ever been okay with me talking to a boy. Not _once_. Even when I was little, you always had to do all this weird research to make sure they weren't killers or psychos, and then you still didn't like them. What's different about Ben?"

Tony couldn't agree more with his past experience when it came to Rebecca and boys, but this was different. He wanted her to be happy, and not only because she deserved it, but because he didn't know how long he'd be around now with all of this drama he had going on, and he wanted her to be happy, he wanted to see her happy for once with someone else. Of course, he couldn't explain that to her.

"You don't think I've _done_ background research?" he shook his head. "All I'm saying is he seems like a nice kid, you seem to like him a lot, and I just wanna meet him. You deserve that much from me after proving how grown up you are now."

Rebecca considered his reasoning, but something still seemed off. "Okay," she nodded her head. "because he wants to meet you too."

Tony smiled. "Well, I mean, who wouldn't?"

Rebecca laughed and hit his arm as she stood up. "Yeah, 'coolest dad ever'." she joked.

"Not many people can say their dad is Iron Man." he defended his 'coolness'.

"Okay, true." she continued laughing as she packed up her things. "Well, I...uh, might go see Ben...about everything."

Tony nodded, glad she was taking his suggestion. However, now that she was leaving, it left his alone yet again with his thoughts, all circulating around this being his last birthday. It made him depressed to think about it. So depressed that he wanted to pour himself a scotch even though it was still morning, but he needed to do something, the thoughts were eating away at him, somehow he needed to drown them out. Tonight would be his last birthday party, and although he didn't want to forget, he didn't want to remember.

* * *

Rebecca walked up to the door of the apartment Happy had driven her to. Ben had tried to convince her that they should meet up somewhere else, but she insisted. It was a small apartment, but it was cosy, and resembled one that many people desire to own when they move out.

"Hey," Rebecca smiled as Ben opened the door after a few knocks.

She was glad that before she left she showered the old car dirt and grease off of her and changed into casual wear, so now she didn't look so gross, although her hair was a mess as she let it loose to flow over her back.

"Hey, thought you might have trouble finding the number." Ben greeted her, welcoming her inside. "Uh, it's not exactly as big as your home, it's a bit messy, and uh-"

"I love it." Rebecca cut in. "It's so cosy. This is exactly where I'd want to live, it's the perfect apartment." she told him as she looked around the rooms, not noticing any mess as he said.

Ben seemed taken aback. "You live in a mansion, and you like this place?"

Rebecca gave him a look of disbelief. "You don't?"

"Well, I mean I like it, but it's nothing special."

"Maybe not to you," she looked over to him as they made it ti the living room, taking a seat. "Anyway, I came here to ask you something important, and I know it's last minute, and you don't have to agree, it's a little weird, but- I mean I'll unders-"

"Bec," Ben stopped her with a soft hand to her shoulder. "Just ask me."

Rebecca nodded. "Okay, well, it's my dad's birthday, and as always, he's having a party. I was wondering if you want to come?" Ben nodded his head, but he didn't answer her straight away, which made her assume he didn't like the idea. "But you don't have to. You've probably seen what they're like...on the news. I get it, I just- I thought I'd ask."

Ben smiled at her. "So that's what I sound like when I fumble." he laughed. "Of course I'll go, I mean, I can't believe your dad wants to meet me."

Rebecca bit down on her lip nervously. "Well...he thinks that we're...together."

Ben looked up at her. "Well...are we?"

Rebecca didn't know what to say, she didn't like being put in the position to ultimately decide. They'd only been out a few times, and she could tell that things were progressing, but she had no idea what to classify their situation as. Were they dating?

"I don't know." she answered honestly. "Are we?"

It was now up to Ben to make the decision, and he was just as confused about their relationship as Rebecca was, however, he felt he knew the answer. If they weren't together now, he knew they would be eventually.

"Yeah, I guess we are." he nodded his head. "I mean, I know I want to be...with you, but what do you want?"

Rebecca couldn't help her lips tugging into a small grin when he admitted he wanted to be with her, and she knew what she wanted as well. Pepper's words had really gotten through to her. Pepper debated on how to answer her, thinking back through her love-life and relationship records. "._..when you meet that person, and you know it's right, then it is. It just is. You click, and you feel like you've known them for years, inside and out, and you feel like you can trust them with anything, no matter what they've done that makes you think otherwise. Your heart's telling you something by making you feel that way, it's like a sign. You'll know if it's meant to be."_

"I want that too." Rebecca smiled.

* * *

Tony was standing in his bathroom, holding his shirt open to observe the arc reactor as he scanned the palladium concentration levels, and they weren't good. He couldn't help state at the lines that continued to form around the circle in his chest.

"Do you know which watch you'd like to wear tonight Mr. Stark?" Natalie's voice came from the room next to him, and he quickly buttoned up his shirt.

"I'll give them a look." he told her, walking out. Natalie sat the case of watches down and began mixing his cocktail. "I should cancel the party, huh." he spoke.

Natalie turned and looked at him, walking over with his drink. "Probably."

"Yeah, cause it's um-"

"Ill timed?" she offered.

"Right, sends the wrong message." he agreed.

"Inappropriate." she offered again. She then handed him the cocktail, mixed up just the way he asked. "Is that dirty enough for you?" she asked after he took a sip.

Tony swallowed the alcohol, enjoying the sensation, and he ignored her question, looking behind her to the watches. "Uh, gold-face, brown band. I'll give that a look. Bring them over here." Natalie walked over and grabbed the case, turning back to Tony who was now sitting in the chair. "I'll take that, you, uh..." he gestures toward the little compact.

Natalie began dabbing her fingers in the skin colored cream, spreading it over the areas of Tony's face that were darkened and scarred from his Iron Man endeavors.

"Can I ask you a question? Hypothetically." he looked up to meet her gaze. "If this was your_ last_ birthday party you were ever gonna have, how would you celebrate it?

Natalie considered how to respond, and then lit up with a small smile. "I'd do whatever I wanted to do. With whoever I wanted to do it with."

Once she was finished, she closed the compact and began walking out of the room. Tony was left sitting in his room, pondering on what Natalie had just told him. He wanted to spend his night with the few people he loved, but he knew that wasn't possible without him having to confess his condition to them. He just wanted to forget everything, he wanted it all to go away.

* * *

**Hope you guys liked this chapter! I had to stop it there because I have a lot of things I want to put into the next chapter and I didn't want to start it and then cut it off. Anyway, as I've said previously, I won't be writing in the same time frames as the movie, so there will be significant pause between certain scenes and things that happen, but that's simply so I can fit things in and keep with a plausible plot that I have going. Please review, let me know what you think or suggestions you have. Thank you for reading! **


	12. Chapter 12

Rebecca stepped out of the car and walked along the concrete path, heading for the stairs to Ben's apartment. Happy had driven her to his place after she insisted he didn't drive. There would be so many cars at her house tonight, she didn't want Ben to have to worry about it, and Happy didn't mind. She found his door after remembering from her earlier visit, and have four knocks on the door. Ben opened the door not long after, ready to walk out. He was dressed in black pants, black shoes and a white dress shirt along with a black dress coat.

"You look very handsome this evening." she told him formally, laughing at the way she spoke.

Ben pulled his coat out as straightened it. "Why, thank you ma'am." he laughed as he stepped back to grab his key.

When he looked back up, he could see Rebecca properly and completely, looking at what she was wearing. It was a black cocktail dress, and it sat just above her knees, flowing gracefully against the upper of her legs. It was lace around her chest, ascending around her neck modestly, leaving no sleeves. It hugged her figure perfectly, and he could feel he was staring when he seen Rebecca raise her eyebrow at him.

"I like that dress." he excused, his face becoming red.

Rebecca smiled, swirling the bottom of her dress. "It's my favorite." Ben then walked out of the apartment, closing the door behind him. "Does your mom know where you're going?" she asked curiously.

"She's at the hospital, on night shift." he explained. "But I _did_ tell her."

Rebecca walked back to the stairs, watching her feet as she stepped down in her heels. She could soon tell Ben was following closely behind her when his arm came around to her waist, resting as they walked to the car. Rebecca couldn't control her grin at the small gesture. They soon made it back to the slick black car, and Happy steppes out to open the door for them.

"Thanks Happy," Rebecca smiled as she climbed into the backseat, sliding over to allow room.

Ben then approached the door. "Mr. Hogan," he greeted. "Nice to meet you."

Happy chuckled. "I haven't been called Mr. Hogan in a long time, kid." he held his hand out to offer. "Call me Happy."

"Happy," Ben nodded.

"I've heard a lot about you." Happy continued. "I know that someone's pretty excited to meet you."

"Really? Well, I'm just a boring kid, so I hope whoever it is, they're not expecting much."

"You mustn't be too boring," he lowered his voice. "You got_ her_ attention, after all."

It was quiet in the car as they drove back to Rebecca's house, the only sound was the wind blowing through the slight gap in the window. Ben's hand held Rebecca's as it rest on top of her leg, and she could tell he was nervous since he was being extremely silent, and his leg was tapping against the chair.

"You okay?" she asked, looking up at him. "Ben?" she tapped his arm.

"Yeah, I'm good," he nodded, giving her a slight smile. "Just a bit...I don't know, I think I'm nervous for some reason. Your dad thinks I'm this great guy, he's not going to like me."

Rebecca narrowed her eyes in concern. "Are you worried about meeting my dad?" Ben didn't answer her, instead he just seemed to bite down in his inner lip. "You are a great guy. Of course he's going to like you!"

"He's a famous billionaire, and I'm this kid who works at a pizza store and lives in a two bedroom apartment." he pointed out. "He's not going to like me."

Rebecca frowned at how he spoke of himself. "You are so much more than you give yourself credit for. Stop worrying, there's nothing to worry about. I know he's intimidating, and arrogant, but that's just who he is, there's no way he won't like you."

Ben didn't seem any more convinced than he was before, still nervous about meeting this famous man, who happened to be Iron Man as well. He just hoped Tony liked him, and somehow measured up to his expectations, but only time would tell.

* * *

By the time Happy has pulled the car into the driveway, Rebecca could hear the music blasting through the many walls of her house. Cars cluttered the driveway and people swarmed around them. Happy opened their door, and thankfully all of the people outside had the decency to leave Rebecca alone as she got out of the car with Ben.

"Good luck in there," Happy laughed as he opened his door, preparing to move the car.

Rebecca grabbed Ben's hand and offered him a reassuring smile as they walked through the people and around the cars. Rebecca hadn't seen anyone familiar yet, and she probably wouldn't know any of the guests inside either. There was one person who caught her eye when he got out of his car though.

"Rhodey!" Rebecca called out, watching as he turned and seen her. "Where the hell have you been?"

Rhodey walked over and wrapped an arm around her for a friendly hug. "Trying to keep your dad out of trouble." he laughed.

When Rebecca pulled away, she moved over and looked between the two of them. "Rhodey, this is Ben." she pointed. "Ben, this is Colonel James Rhodes." she laughed at her formal introduction.

Rhodey extended an arm to Ben. "Nice to meet you."

"You too Colonel." Ben smiled, accepting his gesture.

"Please," he shook his head. "You don't have to call me that."

After their initial greetings, they all moved together toward the front door. Rebecca could tell Ben was overwhelmed by the amount of people that were at her house, and that he had just met two more people in her life before he met her dad. There were people absolutely everywhere. The lights were lowered and the dance floor was obviously active given the amount of noise, and there were strangers everywhere.

"Rebecca! Hi!" A few people called out to her as she walked through the hall.

Ben just looked around at them, wondering who they were, but given Rebecca's response, she didn't know either.

''You want anything?'' she asked as they walked. ''A drink? Anything?''

Ben shook his head politely. ''No, I'm fine.''

''I know it seems a little...much, but I promise it wont be so bad.'' she smiled at him. ''I'm in the same position as you, I don't know anyone here either.''

Ben chuckled. ''But you're probably used to that. The only strangers that talk to me are on the bus or customers at work. Isn't this weird for you?''

''Not really.'' she shrugged. ''It's always been like this for me. It's part of growing up in my family...I guess.''

They walked into the more quiet area of the room and just stopped, looking around. ''Doesn't it bother you?''

''What can I do? It's my family's company, the whole _world_ knows us no matter what. They all think I'm taking over Stark Industries when I'm older, so I get just as much attention. And now, after all that happened with Obadiah...I just can't escape it.'' she looked up at him with honesty. ''I don't blame my dad though, if that's what it seems like, I don't. He didn't ask for this either, he just...well, he deals with it in a different way, he embraces it.''

They continued talking for a while longer, and somehow the conversation had lead Rebecca to confess the time her dad had caught her drinking at one of the company's dinners.

''You're kidding! I would hate to have been in your shoes.'' he laughed. ''What did he do?''

Rebecca laughed along with him. ''Well...nothing. I woke up the next morning and he was happy with my punishment being the hangover I was experiencing. He knows it was a one time thing, I never usually do that.''

''Why did you?'' Ben asked casually.

Rebecca then realized she hadn't told him about Lucas and everything that happened. It was a conversation she didn't want to have while they were standing in a room with hundreds of strangers and could barely hear each other. It wasn't as if her and Lucas were ever together, but she still felt she needed to tell Ben about him at another time.

It was then they spotted Pepper walking toward them, and she had a brief look of horror on her face when she seen them standing there.

"I'm gonna go get some air." Pepper told them as she got closer, but she seemed bothered.

"What's wrong?" Rhodey asked, concerned.

Pepper walked away, back to where she was previously as Rhodey, Rebecca and Ben followed. "I don't know what to do." she stared off across the room.

"You've gotta be _kidding_." Rhodey spoke angrily when he saw was she was referring to.

Rebecca had only just caught up with them, and she hurried over to beside Pepper with Ben behind her, and that's when she saw what was happening. Her jaw dropped at the sight, and she didn't know if she was more angry or embarrassed. Her father, Tony Stark, was standing next to the DJ, in front of hundreds of people, completely wasted and dressed in his Iron Man suit. He was staggering all over the place, smashing bottles and dropping glasses, his intoxication was beyond belief. Rebecca couldn't believe her eyes. Never had she thought he would do something so stupid, and so dangerous, all the while being unbelievably drunk. This could ruin everything for him, with the government and with his company. What made things even worse, however, was the fact that Ben was here watching, and this was the first time he had seen Tony. She didn't even notice Pepper and Rhodey arguing over what was happening until Pepper began walking away.

"I'll handle it." she assured him.

"Well handle it. Or else _I'll_ have to."

Rebecca watched as Pepper crossed the room, being swallowed up by the crowd on the dance floor. Ben hasn't said anything, probably sensing the anger that Rebecca was feeling as her eyes continued to watch her father's stupidity play out before her.

"Y'know the question I get asked most often is 'Tony how do you go to the bathroom in the suit?'" Tony held the microphone to his mouth as he spoke to the crowd, pulling a weird face. "Well...just like that."

Pepper then approached him, snatching the microphone from his grasp as the crowd cheered in honor of Iron Man. They clearly didn't care about Tony Stark in this situation, they just wanted Iron Man.

"Does this guy know how to throw a party or what?" Pepper laughed into the microphone, forcing her enjoyment as the crowd roared in response. "Thank you _so_ much. Tony, we all thank you so much for such a wonderful night," she held her arm to his suit."...and we're gonna say goodnight now, and thank you all for coming."

The crowd booed, obviously disappointed. Rhodey stood back and watched as Pepper handled the situation swiftly. He briefly took his eyes off her long enough to glance over to Rebecca, her eyes focused on her father, anger written all over her.

"No, no, no, no wait." Tony pleaded with Pepper.

"You're out of control, okay? Trust me on this one." she warned him with a grave look on her face.

"You're out of control gorgeous." he smirked, leaning closer to her. "C'mon, give me a smooch. You know you want to."

At this point, he was standing inches away from her, pushing his lips closer to hers, ignoring the audience they had. Pepper inclined her head back, not wanting to do this.

"No, Tony," she squirmed. "You just peed in the suit."

"It has a filtration system," he defended. "You could drink that water."

"Tony, no, this needs to stop." she warned, giving him back the microphone once he nodded in agreement.

Pepper watched as he stumbled around, gaining his bearings, and them addresses the crowd.

"Well, she's right, party's over," he looked out to them, and the crowd whined and booed their disappointment. "But then again the party's been over for me for an hour, the _after_ party will begin in 15 minutes!" Pepper could do nothing at this point, the crowd just roared with excitement and it only fuelled Tony's desire to please them. "And if anyone,_ Pepper_, doesn't like it, there's the door!" he held his hand out and blasted a shot into the glass wall, shattering it as the crowd once again cheered in response.

Tony was loving the attention, and it his behavior was worsening with the alcohol he continued to consume. Pepper walked away in frustration, and it was the angriest she had ever been. Rhodey watched on as his friend lost control, and he had one idea swirling in his mind to stop this madness. Rebecca still hadn't looked away from her father, and she decided to take the matter into her own hands, thinking maybe she could get through to him. Ben and Rhodey observed from their position as Rebecca made her way over to him, anger in her march. She left Ben with Rhodey, too focused on trying to control her father and stop him from ruining all the progress he had made with the trouble he'd been in.

"Dad!" she called out once the music started up and everyone began dancing. "What the_ hell_ are you doing?"

Tony looked up, surprised. "Bec! Hey everyone, it's my little girl!" he called over the microphone, and Pepper stopped as she stood in the hall, looking over to Rebecca's attempt to stop this. "Isn't she beautiful? That's all me, folks, I made this one." Tony held the microphone out to in front of her mouth.

''I don't so speeches.'' she told them all with a forced laugh, and they tried to encourage her with their cheers. ''No, really.''

Tony threw his arm around her again. ''Teenagers.'' he laughed.

''Okay, why don't you all go back to dancing and...stuff.'' she told them, finally taking the microphone from her dad and throwing it onto the bench. Rebecca squirmed in his drunken arms, pushing him away. "This is by far the _worst_ thing you have done." she spoke firmly.

Tony took the microphone away and once again ignored the crowd. "Oh come on! It's my birthday, I'm having some fun!"

Rebecca shook her head. "You have no idea how bad this is, dad. You need to stop this now, before it's too-"

"Listen, this is a party, go have fun! Stop worrying for once! I'm a big boy, I can take care of myself and do whatever I want. Now, go, have fun!"

Rebecca refused to walk away defeated. "Listen to me, you need to stop this." she looked at him with a serious expression. "Why are you even doing this? You know how bad this is."

Tony grabbed another glass of scotch and downed the liquid quickly, letting himself lean to one side in response to the strong substance.

"Doing what?" he slurred. "I'm having fun."

"You need to get the suit off, you're out of control."

"You sound just like Pepper." he rolled his eyes.

"Because she has a point." Rebecca knew she was getting nowhere, she needed him to stop all this, or terrible things would happen. "Look, either stop this or I'm leaving."

"Aw, don't be like that Bec," he whined.

"I shouldn't have to do this," she tried to pull him away from the crowd. "You need to stop this."

For a moment, Rhodey and Pepper thought that Rebecca was actually getting through to him since he seemed to be taking in what she was saying, but as usual, there was no reasoning with a drunken Tony Stark, and Rhodey soon walked out of the room and for the staircase.

"Hey, no, you're not dragging me away from my own party." Tony protested.

"The hell I'm not." she growled, pushing him further from the crowd of people.

"Bec," Ben's voice came from behind her, and she turned quickly to see his nervous expression as he moved closer.

"Hey, look, it's Ben!" Tony sang happily, moving over to wrap his Iron Man arm around his neck. "It's good to meet you, I've been looking forward to it."

Ben looked uncomfortable in his grip, and Rebecca gave him an apologetic look. "It's nice to meet you too...Mr. Stark."

"Oh, please! Call me Tony." he laughed. "Tell you what, you feel like a drink? Bourbon, scotch, whiskey, I won't tell anyone."

Rebecca couldn't believe how badly her dad was acting, and she walked over and took Ben's hand, guiding him away from her intoxicated father.

"No, we're leaving." she told Tony, flashing an angry look. "I'm not sticking around to watch you act like this."

Tony shook his head disappointingly, the last thing he wanted was for his daughter to storm out, he wanted to be with everyone he loved tonight, but he had drank too much and he had turned into his old, alcoholic self. Tony watched as Rebecca and Ben walked into the hall, and he could hear her apologizing to him as they walked over to Pepper.

"Tony!" A woman called for him on the dance floor. "Come on!"

Tony then turned all of his attention to the adoring crowd who wanted him to blow up numerous items. They would throw up in the air anything from watermelon, to parts of ice sculptures, and in less than seconds it would be smashes to tiny pieces by Iron Man's blasts. They cheered in response, and Tony took in all of the attention he was getting, loving the response. Rebecca had never seen him like this before. She had seen him drunk many times from company fundraisers to parties such as these, but to see him completely wasted while in the suit, she couldn't believe it. To make matters worse, this was the first time Ben had met her father, and it was in the worst possibly way.

"I've never seen him like this." Pepper spoke, shaking her head at what Tony was doing. "I have no idea what's gotten into him."

Rebecca watched on as well, helpless. "He won't listen to me."

"He won't listen to anyone at the moment. Where's Rhodey?" Pepper looked around.

Just as they were each scanning the room, the heard screams from the connecting room, and Tony blasted one more thing high above them as his attention was taken by something else. Rebecca hurried over to the corner and looked at what everyone else seemed mesmerized by.

"Who_ is_ that?" Ben asked in a shocked breath behind her.

Tony's silver Iron Man suit was standing in the middle of the room, making everyone around it silent and terrified. The helmet was pushed up enough for Rebecca to see who it was, Rhodey.

"I'm only gonna say this _once_," Rhodey spoke firmly. "Get out!"

* * *

**Hope you guys liked this chapter, there's way more to come on this scene and I hope you're enjoying it so far. Sorry this chapter is a bit shorter, I wasn't sure where to cut it off before going into the bigger scenes. I didn't know whether I liked this one much, and I was kinda worried to post it because I thought you guys might not like it...but I hope so, because things will get way more exciting now. Anyway, please review and let me know what you think. Thanks for reading!**


	13. Chapter 13

The guests in the room scrambled around Rhodey, pushing past him to get to the door. They were all in complete silence at the shock of seeing someone else in an Iron Man suit, and they could feel the tension in the air between the two friends. Rhodey glared over to Tony who seemed unfazed about the whole situation, shaking his head at the fact that he had just ruined the party.

"You don't deserve to wear one of these!" Rhodey began walking over. "Shut it down!"

"Oh, god." Rebecca ran her hand through her hair, holding onto a chunk as as anticipated her dad's reaction.

Tony ignored his request, instead turning to the crouching DJ and asking to play music, smirking at the song choice with approval as Queen's "Another One Bites The Dust" began playing.

"I told you to shut it down." Rhodey came up behind him.

"You need to go! Go! Follow Pepper!" Rebecca instructed Ben, but he was having none of it as Pepper rushed off to find Happy.

"No! I'm not leaving you here, you don't know what could happ-"

Rebecca and Ben's heads both whipped to the side as they heard glass shattering. Tony had blasted himself and Rhodey backwards across the room and resulted in going through a brick wall and a thick wall of glass. The music still blared loudly, but the smashing coming from the room they had ended up in was hard to miss. They had landed in the training room, and it was full of dangerous equipment.

"Now, put that thing back where you found it before someone gets hurt." Tony stood up from his postion, leaving Rhodey on the ground still recovering from the impact.

Rebecca rushed over to the hole in the wall, needing to see what was happening, and she caught a glimpse of Rhodey throwing a weight at Tony's head, and she knew that wouldn't end well.

"You need to get outside!" Ben told her, trying to tug on her arm gently. "Rebecca!"

"No!" she protested. "They're going to kill each other!"

"If you stay here, you'll get hurt!" he argued. "I'm not letting you!"

"I need to stop them!" she yelled. "Dad!"

"Bec, we need to go!"

Ben pulled Rebecca away from the gap in the wall and hurried her through the halls, trying desperately to get themselves away from the destruction going on. Ben didn't know much about Tony, but he knew he was drunk and angry, which wasn't a good mix.

"Sorry pal, but Iron Man doesn't have a sidekick." Tony told him as he punched Rhodey's helmet into the ground, shattering even more glass.

Pepper was still running around the house in search of Happy, and she cringed at each sound she heard from upstairs where they were fighting.

"Natalie!" she yelled when she spotted the red-headed woman walking toward her.

Her anger and frustration was already heightened, but when she seen this woman, she snapped. She had this feeling that ever since Natalie showed up, she had been influencing Tony's bad behaviors somehow, and this party was the worst thing to happen. Although, it could've been the fact that she just didn't like her.

"Ms. Potts!" Natalie rushed over.

"Oh, don't you 'Ms. Potts' me! I'm onto you! Ever since you came here-" Pepper's scolding was cut off by both Tony and Rhodey collapsing through the roof, landing right next to Natalie and Pepper, still wrestling violently with each other.

"Pepper!" Happy called out from across the room, running around the two men in suits to get to her. "Come on! We've gotta get out!"

Just then, Rebecca and Ben ran around from behind the scene as well and followed Happy and Pepper out. After throwing Rhodey into the wall, Tony turned and yelled ferociously at the crowd of people outside, causing them to run away screaming. Pepper wrapped her arm around Rebecca's and pulled her along, trying to get out of the way, but Rebecca tugged her arm away, staying put.

"Rebecca!" Pepper yelled. "No, don't even think about going in there!"

Rebecca took a few steps back, looking at her dad and Rhodey fighting. "Someone's gonna get hurt!"

"_You_ will get hurt! Come on, we need to go!" Pepper urged.

"Put your hand down!" Rhodey yelled, causing Rebecca to look over at the scene.

They were holding their hands up to each other threateningly, and Rebecca feared who would fire first. She felt Pepper's grip tighten.

"You think you got what it takes to wear that suit?" Tony growled.

Happy ran over and grabbed Pepper's arm, pulling her away, but he missed Rebecca's as she pulled away just in time. "Bec, come on, there's nothing you can do to stop this!"

"I can't!" she yelled, looking back at the fight. "Just go!"

Happy gave Ben a stern look, and Ben nodded, gesturing for Happy to take Pepper back to the car and he would take care of Rebecca. He watched as they soon left, and then he focused on getting Rebecca away.

"You don't have to do this Tony." Rhodey warned.

"Bec, you gotta go." Ben pulled her arm. "If you stay, you'll get hurt, come on!."

"You want to be a War Machine? Take your shot!" Tony yelled.

"No! Dad!" Rebecca screamed, hoping he could hear her. "Stop!"

"Put it down!" Rhodey warned again, his voice reaching a loud yell.

"You gonna take a shot?" Tony moved closer.

"Put it down!" Rhodey roared again.

"No!"

"Drop it Tony!"

Ben had enough, something was going to happen soon and he wasn't going to let Rebecca get herself hurt. He ignored her protests, hurriedly grabbing her around the waist and running them away, hiding out behind the outer brick just in time.

"Take it!" Tony yelled.

Then, they both fired. Their blasts connected, and it created an explosive effect on the room and it's surroundings. The glass walls shattered, glass spraying across the grass where Rebecca and Ben stood only seconds ago. They heard something thump into the wall, and they knew it was the suit being thrown back with the impact and pressure of the weapons damage. It was quiet for a moment, and the sound of fire crackling was haunting.

"Dad!" Rebecca cried out, trying to run back back but she stopped when she saw Rhodey step outside, moving his arms to ease the pain. "Rhodey..."

Rhodey turned his head to her, and his gaze lowered in shame and disappointment for his actions and for Tony's actions. He couldn't say anything to her, he didn't know what words would do. She had just seen her dad hit rock bottom, destroy their home and then almost kill himself out of his own stubbornness. There was nothing he could say, and so he flew off into the sky in the suit, and the glow of the repulsors were all that she could see as he blended into the night sky. She slowly walked around the back, and Ben stayed where he was to offer privacy, and he looked over to Happy and Pepper to give her a moment. When she stepped around the corner, she could see her dad's Iron Man suit in the corner, laying on the ground. The house was destroyed. Holes through all the walls, no glass that wasn't shattered, fires in each corner, the roof sprinklers soaking everyrhing, and utter destruction everywhere. It was all proof of how bad he had let himself become. He drank too much, but there was something else hidden there that Rebecca knew he was hiding, because this wasn't him.

"Are you okay?" she asked him, stepping closer but not leaning down to him, she was still angry. She had tears in her eyes from her previous worries, mostly shock mixed in with her many emotions. His head nodded, but he didn't say anything out of shame for why he'd done. "Good. I'm staying at Pepper's tonight."

"Bec," Tony spoke, calling her back. "Don't-"

"No, I don't want to do this right now." she shook her head. "I don't want to talk to you. I just wanted to know that you're okay." she told him honestly.

"Don't go." he shook his head. "You don't have to, I'm sorry for..."

Rebecca couldn't help the tears that had welled up in her eyes from spilling over. "For what?" she asked, and he didn't reply. "For what, dad? Can you even remember? I never thought you'd ever do something like this..."

"Bec...I don't know how to say...I'm so-"

"Don't." she held her hand up. "I'm going. I can't be here."

Tony watched as she stepped over the broken glass and made her way to Ben's arms as he walked her away. In that moment, he truly hated himself more than he ever thought possible. He had hurt his daughter beyond repair, embarassed her, betrayed her trust, and he had hurt Pepper as well. The two people in his life he wanted to protect the most, and he was the one to hurt them.

* * *

Rebecca was quiet as Happy drove away from the house after making sure the fire crew were on their way, just in case, and she turned her head away from Pepper who was watching on worriedly. Ben had his arm around her shoulder, rubbing soothingly on her arm as she quietly sniffled.

"I'm sorry." she told him quietly, and Pepper turned away to look out the window, giving them as much privacy as she could. "You didn't deserve that."

Ben shook his head. "This isn't your fault."

"No, it_ is_." she argued. "I knew I shouldn't have asked you to go, I _knew_ something bad would happen. I just...can't believe it."

Ben didn't know how to comfort her, she was convinced this was her fault because she asked him to go, but there was nothing he could have done to prevent what happened. He just continued to soothe her as best he could, and she soon rested into a light sleep against his shoulder as all of her emotions caught up with her and she let her mind rest for the rest of the drive.

"For the record," Pepper whispered to him. "I _am_ sorry you had to meet Tony like that."

"It's okay, really."

"No it's not. He shouldn't have done that." Pepper shook her head. "He's never been like that before, so please don't assume it's always like that."

Ben sighed. "I don't care about my feelings right now."

Pepper couldn't help a small smile forming on her lips, but she only hoped he was the real deal, not someone who would give up on her, she needed someone like him in her life right now. As they fell into a comfortable silence for the rest of the drive, Pepper kept thinking of Tony. She couldn't stop picturing his drunken figure swaying about in that suit, breaking everything that surrounded him. For years Pepper had been there to see him have one-too-many drinks, she had seen him stumbling around and talking to women, and she had been there to make sense of his drunken slurs, but she had never seen him like he was tonight. He was out of control, big time, and he had gone further than he had ever done before. It hurt her to see him like that, because she knew what would happen and there was nothing she could do to stop him, either could Rhodey or Rebecca. It was the crowd, they encouraged him and he craved the attention, it was in his personality, but he took it too far, and Pepper didn't know if she had the strength and mentality to fix it this time.

Happy began slowing down as they reached Pepper's apartment building, and Rebecca was woken up by small nudges from Ben.

"We're here," Ben told her.

Rebecca looked out the window at the talk building that resembled a five-star hotel. "Wait...what about you?" she asked, noticing they hadn't stopped at his place first.

"I'll drop him off on my way home, it's easier." Happy informed her. "Don't worry."

Rebecca nodded, opening the door to climb out. She hadn't brought anything with her for the night, she was too angry to even think about what she was doing. Ben soon followed behind her to say goodbye, and Pepper stayed in the car for a moment to give them some privacy.

Rebecca leaned in and hugged him tight, resting her head on his chest. "Thank you," she spoke quietly. "For putting up with everything, and for saving me...again."

Ben chuckled softly. "Anytime."

"I'm sorry," she looked up at him. "I know I keep saying it, but the last thing I wanted was for you to think that my life, and my dad's, was just like what everyone says it is, and what the reporters say. This isn't my life, Ben. Tonight was just..."

"I know." he nodded. "What do you think I'm going to do?" he asked, and Rebecca seemed confused. "I'm not going to stop seeing you because of this. I'm not going to just throw whatever we've got away because things got out of hand tonight. Bec, I_ know_ that's not your life. I don't believe anything the reporters say anyway, so I don't care. I'm not like that."

Rebecca continued to look up at him. "Are you sure? My life isn't...simple, it's not easy-going, it's crazy," she made sure she made a fair warning. "Are you sure you want to be apart of it?"

Ben smiled, thinking of a cheeky response he could make that might lift her mood, but he didn't want to accidentally upset her. "My life is..._boring_, to be honest, and I think being with you, in your crazy life, is a nice balance." he laughed. "So, yes, I'm sure."

Rebecca could see his eyes staring back down at her, and she anticipated the next move. He leaned his head down so his face hovered above hers, and her eyes fluttered closed as they moved closer to each other. Their lips connected in a soft, lingering kiss as Ben's hands stayed on her hips, and Rebecca's went around his neck naturally. It was the perfect kiss, and it was on the worst occasion. When they pulled away from each other, they both had the same look on their face, they were nervous of each other's reaction.

"Well," Rebecca managed to smile. "that made my night."

Ben chuckled. "I'm glad, 'cause it made mine too."

Pepper timed her exit from the car perfectly, shutting the door behind we just as Ben finished saying goodbye, his hands slipping from hers.

"I'll come see you tomorrow." he promised.

"Yeah, okay." she nodded, watching him climb back into the car.

Happy then stepped out of the car, rushing over to the two of them before they walked off.

"Listen, if either of you need anything...you know you can call me whenever, for whatever." he told them seriously. "Bec, if you need to go get anything-"

"That's okay, I'll let you know, thanks Happy." Rebecca smiled, reaching out and hugging him.

"You better." he told her as he pulled away. "Get some sleep."

Rebecca and Pepper stood on the sidewalk as Happy climbed back in the car, and they waved their goodbyes as they moved away. Ben stared back at Rebecca, a comforting smile his final attempt at making her feel better, and she smiled in return. Pepper's arm wrapped around her shoulders, holding her close as they began walking to the main door of the building.

"How 'bout a cup of tea?" Pepper suggested as they walked inside. "Tea fixes a lot of things."

"That'd be nice," Rebecca gave her a faint smile. "I don't think this can be fixed though."

* * *

Ben sat silently in the back of the car as Happy drove him back to his house, memorizing his previous visit from earlier. Ben had only met him that day, but he could tell Happy wasn't in his usual mood, instead he was left dwelling on the night's events, just as everyone else was.

"I hope that didn't turn you off visiting again." Happy spoke up.

"Oh, uh...no." Ben answered, trying to come up with a suitable answer.

"It's okay, Tony's a...a little full on sometimes. But I promise you, he's not always like that. So, don't go thinking that's what it'll be like."

Ben almost chuckled to himself at the same warning he had heard all night. "Why does everyone think I'm going to start running?"

Happy laughed loudly. "That's what any _sane_ person would do. Hell, it's what _I'd_ do if I didn't know any better."

By this time, they had arrived at Ben's building, but they continued talking.

"Rebecca thinks I judge her, I can tell." he told Happy. "She thinks I'm going to believe everything the reporters say, all the bad stuff, because of her dad tonight."

Happy turned in his seat to face Ben. "Don't tell her I'm talking to you about this, alright?" Ben nodded in agreement. "But she's never really allowed anyone into her life. She thinks everyone only cares about her last name and to be honest, it's a fair play considering what her family's known for, and everything that reporters say about their life. The last thing she wants is for _you_ to think all those things as well."

"I get it, but I'm not like that." Ben assured him. "I would never judge her."

Happy nodded. "You're a good kid. I'm just sorry you didn't get to meet Tony."

"Me too."

* * *

**I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I was hoping this scene would be easy to follow since I used the same sequence as the movie, but I'm sorry if it wasn't clear or anything. I'm getting to the point where I have to draw out a lot of scenes in order to create more chapters instead of skipping right to the end, so I'm trying to prolong it, and therefore I won't follow the same timing as the movie. I'll elaborate on that more next chapter, but I hope I don't confuse anyone. Please review and let me know what you think, I really appreciate hearing from you all. Thanks for reading!**


	14. Chapter 14

Pepper opened the door to her apartment, letting Rebecca walk in before her so she could lock the door behind them. Rebecca had stayed here many times when she was younger and Tony had to do weapons demonstrations or had to go with Obadiah on a business trip for conferences. It had been over a year since she had stayed there overnight, but she had visited enough that nothing had changed drastically. Pepper's apartment was a two bedroom, two bathroom, which she insisted for guests, and it was extremely spacious. She was on one of the highest floors thanks to her generous Stark Industries wages. Rebecca put her heels over by the door and sat down on the soft couch while Pepper fussed in the kitchen, making their cups of tea. She looked down at her hands as she held them out in front of her, observing as they trembled uncontrollably from her stress levels reaching a max.

"Here you go," Pepper walked over, holding a cup out to her. "It's Chai."

Rebecca accepted the warm cup, positioning it comfortably in her hands. "Thank you."

They sat quietly together on the couch for a while, just sipping at their hot drinks, giving each other the silence that was needed. The living room light was on, but dulled down enough to make it a peaceful room for them to just sit, but their minds wouldn't leave them alone.

"How bad is it now?" Rebecca asked, knowing Pepper would understand what she was asking. She needed to know what would happen now, there was no way the government were going to let him off the hook now.

Pepper sighed. "It's bad. Rhodey's the one whose been holding the government off, but now...I don't know what will happen."

"I never thought he would do something like that." Rebecca shook her head. "Why? Why would he? What happened that made him lose it like that, Pepper?"

"I don't know." Pepper told her honestly. "I've seen him do lots of stupid things when he drinks, but never like that, and never when you were around. He didn't want you to see him drunk, he was always conscious of that."

Rebecca ran her hands through her hair, taking a deep breath. "He needs help. It's all of the pressure, it has to be." she thought. "The whole country depends on him to protect them, but at the same time they're fighting him. How can he deal with that alone?" Rebecca began to feel bad for her father, and she almost felt guilty for leaving him, but she kept being reminded of what he had done. "I just...ugh! I can't believe he would be_ so_ stupid! Look at how hard we've all fought for him during this whole thing, trying to protect him, and he does this in return!"

"Shh," Pepper tried to calm her. "Hey, listen to me, it's okay. It's over now, it's been done, there's nothing we can do to change it." she reached over and grabbed Rebecca's hand in hers. "We've been through so much over this last year, haven't we?" Rebecca nodded sadly. "Right, and we've made it through everything, haven't we?"

"But this is different-"

"I know, believe me, I know it's going to be hard." Pepper tried to keep a relaxed tone as to not overwhelm Rebecca in this sensitive moment. "We just need a while to...come to terms with everything."

Rebecca shook her head. "This is such a mess."

"It will be okay." Pepper spoke clearly.

"Pepper..." Rebecca looked over to her. "I'm not a little kid anymore, you don't have to tell me everything's going to be okay when...it isn't."

Pepper frowned, slightly guilty that she couldn't even tell Rebecca what she thought. "I know it's not okay, it's nowhere near okay." he admitted. "But you've gotta keep telling yourself it will be."

Rebecca almost laughed at the way she put it. "I've never been good at that sort of stuff, I can't say positive. I like to fix things when they break, but I _can't_ fix this. How can I be positive?"

Pepper nodded in agreement to her logic. "Your dad's done a lot of stupid things. A_ lot_. You've had to deal with that your whole life, all of the drama and the nonsense that comes with being his daughter, and I'll admit this is the stupidest thing he's done, but he loves you. He didn't want to hurt you."

"Then why did he do this?" she questioned. "I've seen him drunk, and that was not drunk, that was _wasted_. He should've known not to get in the suit!"

"I don't know why he did it. I don't know what's going on with him lately." Pepper sighed. "I honestly don't have a clue."

They both knew this wouldn't be easy to deal with, they didn't even know where to start. There was so much that needed to be talked about, and so many people to answer to.

"Come on," Pepper stood up. "Go take a nice, long shower and go to bed. What you need is a good nights sleep, clear your head. I'll bring you some pajamas to wear."

Rebecca reluctantly followed Pepper into her guest room as she showed her where she kept towels and soaps, and then she left her to the room in order to get ready for bed.

Rebecca couldn't clear her head though, no matter how relaxing the shower was. The steam from the hot water filled the bathroom as she stepped out, looking into the mirror at her tired eyes as her makeup smudged down her face. All of her worrying, her stress and her exhaustion had made her look horrible, and she knew only sleep could cure her. She pulled on the pajamas that Pepper had left out for her, and they fit loosely over her as she walked out. Pepper had her bed prepared for her. Covers pulled back, lights dimmed to allow just enough to get comfortable, and a bottle of water on the nightstand.

"I'll see you in the morning." Pepper poked her head in the doorway as Rebecca settled into bed.

"Thanks for letting me stay here."

"You know you're welcome any time, for as long as you need, okay?" Pepper gave her one last comforting smile. "Goodnight sweetie."

With that, she closed the door walking to her own bedroom, leaving Rebecca to stare out of the window at the city lights, unable to sleep. She couldn't calm her thoughts, she couldn't relax and fall asleep like she would every other night in her own bed, in her own room, at home. But her home was barely standing at the moment, having walls crashed in and everything either broken or thrown about. She threw her legs down from the bed after giving up on sleep for the time being, her body not settled enough to even enjoy laying in the comfortable bed. Instead, she sat up on the long seat next to the window, leaning against the wall as she watched the lights of the city. Cars drove around one after another, lights flashed from surrounding buildings and people roamed the street. Their peacefulness teasing Rebecca as her mind drove her crazy. She could feel a headache coming on, but she didn't bother looking for anything to soothe it, instead she co timed staring down at the city lights, her head pounding against her temples, until her eyes drifted closed.

It had been over an hour since Rebecca had closed her eyes by the window, and she soon began to softly snore as her body found a comfortably position.

_"Dad!" she screamed, rushing over to the lifeless body that lay on the floor of the destroyed living room._

_He was in the suit, but he helmet has been torn off to reveal his face. His eyes were closed, and there was no response. She pushed and shoved on the armor, trying to wake him up, but he remained motionless as the blood gushed from his abdomen, creating a pool around him on the floor._

_"No!" she cried, lifting her hands slowly and staring at the blood that covered her hands. "You can't be..." She continued shaking his body, trying to wake him up, but he didn't react. "No! Wake up...please wake up!"_

Rebecca shot up in her position, falling off of the seat she sat on by the window. She took a long breath of air, choking on the intensity as she gasped. Her heart was pounding in her chest as she controlled her breathing, slowly realizing that she had had a nightmare.

* * *

The apartment was silent when Rebecca finally emerged from the guest bedroom, yawning loudly as she looked over at the clock. It was 5.30am, and she had to blink a few times to make sure she was seeing it right. She couldn't remember the last time she woke up this early before, and she didn't know why she was even up now.

_"Gone in to the office, probably won't be back until this evening. There's cereal in the cupboard, or there are eggs in the fridge. Make sure you have a big breakfast and relax for the day. Pepper."_

Pepper had signed the note with a few 'x's, and it was hard not to smile at her loving message. She still had a sick feeling inside of her whenever she thought about the previous night, and she decided that a big breakfast would be a good idea.

Settling on a bowl of cereal, Rebecca made her way over to the couch and sat by the coffee table to eat, switching on the television in hopes to catch morning cartoons. As usual though, she had caught the news instead, reading the big headline that was written across the screen. 'Iron Man's breakdown'.

_"It was a usual birthday party at Tony Stark's Malibu mansion, when an unexpected turn of events took place, most footage being caught on camera by surrounding guests. Tony Stark's Iron Man was brought into the party, and it was clear he was under the influence of alcohol, which made the events that followed dangerously irresponsible-"_

Rebecca turned off the television, throwing the remote onto the floor. The last thing she wanted to do was listen to the reporters exaggerate everything about what happened, but in this case, it was hard to exaggerate. She quickly ate her breakfast, ignoring the nausea she felt after the consumption, and she headed to the guest bedroom to get changed. Luckily, Pepper had clothes that would fit her well enough, and she dressed in very neat, professional clothing. After making sure she had cleaned up her mess, Rebecca hurried out the door, down to the busy street and easily found a cab.

"Where to?" The driver asked, a bored tone.

"Stark Industries."

* * *

Tony hadn't slept well that night, if he had slept at all. His eyes were dark and baggy, covered by sunglasses, and he was still wearing his Iron Man suit. He couldn't bare the thought of being in his house when it was completely trashed, and especially when it only reminded him of the fact he had driven his own daughter out of her home. In an effort to ease his hangover, he went on a search for strong coffee and carbohydrates.

Tony sat on the roof of Randy's, lounging on the large donut, enjoying the large box of donuts he had ordered from a very shocked worker, not that he was in the mood to deal with people. As he sat there eating, he couldn't help being reminded of her younger self. Trying to ease a hangover, the stench of alcohol still strong on his breath, completely shutting out the world and hating himself for everything he'd done.

"Sir! I'm gonna have to ask you to exit the donut!"

Tony looked down at the figure requesting him, and he had trouble believing who it was. It was the same mysterious man who had come to see him after he revealed to the world that he was Iron Man. He was dressed in black all over from his leather boots to his long leather jacket, and what was most peculiar about the man was his eyepatch, and it was clear who he was. Nick Fury, director of SHIELD. The man then simply walked off into the store, leaving Tony to make his way in behind him. For a few seconds, he debates going in, suspicious of what he wanted, but eventually that suspicion got the better of him.

After walking in the store, Tony was greeted with a cup of coffee on the table where Fury was sitting, and he didn't hesitate to take a sip immediately. This man seemed like the real deal, although Tony couldn't be sure. SHIELD had helped him with many things, mainly through the work of Agent Phil Coulson, but this time it was just the director himself.

"I told you, I don't want to join your super secret boy band." Tony muttered, referring to their last conversation.

Fury chuckled. "No, no, see I remember you do everything yourself. How's that working out for you?"

Tony grumbled, not wanting to admit defeat. "I'm sorry, I don't wanna get off in the wrong foot. Do I look at the patch or at the eye?" he asked, trying to avoid the topic in mind. "I'm not sure if you're real."

"I am_ very_ real. I'm the realest person you're ever gonna meet." Fury assured him.

"Just my luck." Tony grumbled, picking up his coffee before looking around the now empty store. "Where's the staff here?"

"That's not looking so good." Fury ignored his question, looking directing at his neck and the 'high-tech crossword puzzle' that continued to grow.

Tony didn't give him a response, instead he just looked at him with a blank expression, most likely unreadable as his glasses were still on.

"We've secured the perimeter but I don't think we should hold it for too much longer."

Tony looked up at the voice next to him, and he was in shock at who it was. Natalie Rushman, now decked out in a holster and gun, leather suit and threatening bracelets. It then occurred to him, based in the situation and what she was saying, that she was a SHIELD agent.

"Huh." Tony mused. "You're fired."

"That's not up to you." she smirked, taking a seat next to Fury.

Fury seemed to be enjoying watching Tony's shock. "Tony, I want you to new Agent Romanoff."

Tony shook his head in disbelief, her name wasn't even Natalie Rushmore, she was a completely different person. "Hi."

"I'm a SHIELD shadow, I was tasked to you by director Fury." she explained bluntly.

"I suggest you apologize." Tony told her, giving her a disapproving glare as he watched her eyes stay on his.

Fury had grown tired of this situation. "You've been very busy." he stated, leaning forward. "Made your girl your CEO, you're giving away all your stuff, you let your friend fly away with your suit. I'd I didn't know better-"

Tony cut him off there. "You _don't_ know better, I didn't give it to him, he _took_ it."

"Whoa, whoa, he_ took_ it? You're_ Iron Man_, and he just took it?" Fury asked, getting on Tony's nerves. "The lil' brother walked in there, kicked your ass, and he just _took_ it?" Fury seemed to like spelling things out for Tony, making everything he said seem like lies. "Is that possible?" he asked Agent Romanoff.

"Well according to Mr. Stark's database security guidelines," Agent Romanoff began. "there are redundancies to prevent such issues."

Tony really wasn't in the mood. "What do you want from me?"

"What do we want from you? Nuh uh, what do_ you_ want from _me_?" Fury asked, seeming to have grown aggravated. "You have become a problem. A problem _I_ have to deal with. Contrary to your belief, you are _not_ the centre of my universe. I have bigger problems than you in the south west region to deal with." Fury seen Agent Romanoff approaching, and he signaled a hand to Tony's neck. "Hit him."

Tony jumped back as soon as the needle pierced his skin, injecting something into his neck. It stung like a bee, but it soon wore off, although that didn't stop Tony from overreacting.

"Oh god! Are you going to steal my kidney and sell it?" he held his hand to his neck before turning to face the woman who had blindsided him. "Could you not be awful for 5 seconds. What did she just do to me?"

"What did we just do_ for_ you" Fury corrected, assessing his neck. "That's lithium dioxide, it's gonna take the edge off. We're trying to get you back to work."

Tony knew exactly what Nick Fury meant by that. The country needed him, they needed him to defend them, and here he was sulking away and ignoring them, granted he was dying.

"Great. Give me a couple of boxes and I'll be as right as rain."

"It's not a cure." Agent Romanoff informed him. "It just slows the symptoms."

"Doesn't look like its gonna be an easy fix." Fury told him.

"Trust me, I _know_. I'm good at this stuff. I've been looking for a suitable replacement for palladium." Tony looked to Fury with a seriousness he had lacked during the conversation. "I have tried _every_ combination, _every_ permentation of _every_ known element."

Fury knew Tony was good at this stuff, probably one of the best, but he was missing something. "Well I'm here to tell you, you haven't tried them all."

* * *

Rebecca walked through the corridors of Stark Industries, making her way to Tony's office. No one ever went in there when he wasn't in his office, and she just hoped anything that he had worked in was still somewhere in there. She needed to find out what was going on with her father. Ever since she heard Pepper admit to not knowing what was going on with him, it sparked something inside her to find out what it was. Pepper always knew what was going on with Tony better than anyone, even himself sometimes, ad the fact that not even she knew meant that there was something to worry about.

"Rebecca," A man's voice called from down the hall beside her. "What a pleasant surprise."

Rebecca cringed at the sound of his voice, recognizing the forced politeness. She turned to face his direction, putting on a fake smile of her own.

"Justin Hammer." she spoke with very little enthusiasm. "I would hardly think that _my_ presence would be a surprise considering where we are."

Rebecca was taken aback by her quick attitude change. She reminded herself of Pepper when she became serious and professional like that, yet she lacked Pepper's many years of experience in pretending to care what people like Justin Hammer had to say.

"I suppose you're right." he flashed a smile as he walked closer, obviously intending on a conversation. "So how've you been?"

Rebecca narrowed her eyes at the man. "Wonderful. Now, what do you want?"

Hammer chuckled. "I guess you like to hold grudges."

"I wouldn't waste my time with a grudge against you." Rebecca out her hands on her hips with a serious look on her face, albeit tired of lowering herself to actually stand there and listen to him. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, Rebecca, you're obviously not very up to date with your company's events and scheduling." he pointed out. "The Expo. I'm just here to confirm my slot."

Rebecca let out a slight laugh in hopes to insult him. "You're presenting at the Expo?"

"That's right."

"You do know you have to able to make something that _works_, right?" she asked bitterly.

Hammer only smiled politely at her jabs. "Your dad seems to have some faith in me since he got me the gig and approved it."

"Well of course, who would deny America the chance to see you're humiliating attempt."

Hammer knew he wasn't getting a civilized conversation out of this, but he remained polite and poised. "I must admit, I was rather disappointed when you didn't get back to me on my offer."

"That's too bad." she shrugged.

"Yes, things could have gone very differently." he gave her a sympathetic look. "Maybe if you'd only agreed to work with me, your dad wouldn't be fighting off the government."

"If you have something to tell me Hammer, say it." Rebecca looked at him with a serious glare.

"Oh no, I think you know what I'm talking about." he smiled. "And now with what happened at his little party last night, I'm guessing Homeland Security and the Government will come after him like hungry vultures. It's a shame, really, to think that you could change that for him with one simple favor." Rebecca had never wanted to slap someone in the face so much before, but she did her best to keep calm. "I bet I know what your father would do if the roles were reversed. Too bad you don't care to make the same sacrifices for your loved ones."

Hammer was manipulating her, she knew that and she tried so hard to ignore everything he was saying. He knew what he was doing though, using all the words he knew would hurt her and comparing her dad's love with her own.

"What do you want from me?" she asked through her teeth.

Hammer only smirked. "I told you, think back to Monaco. I'm sure you remember our little conversation about helping out your dad. He seems like he could use it at the moment."

"There's nothing you could do to help him." Rebecca shook her head. "You don't speak for the government."

"No, honey, I don't." he agreed. "I speak _to_ them. I am in control of _everything_ that is coming for Tony Stark." Hammer informed her, noticing that in this moment she was vulnerable. "You've got my card."

With that, Justin Hammer strode off down the hall in his expensive suit, a slight bounce in his step for what he had achieved in the last few minutes. Rebecca stood there in the hall by her dad's office door, staring into nothing as she kept replaying Hammer's words.

_"...your father would do if the roles were reversed. Too bad you don't care to make the same sacrifices..."_

* * *

**I hope you liked this chapter. This is the beginning to the tangent I'm going off on with this story. This is a movie-verse story, and until now I've been following closely and intend to come back to doing so, however, this is where I'll be writing completely new stuff (hopefully you guys will like it!) into the story and creating new subplots and all kinds of stuff. It's basically so I can prolong the story and write in my own stuff. Anyway, I won't be giving away any details, only that from now on things will be a bit different but hopefully enjoyable all the same. I hope you continue to read, and please review! Thanks!**


	15. Chapter 15

"_Ms. Potts, the Board of Directors are requesting a video conference, but they need confirmation for a time._" The young woman's voice came over the intercom.

Pepper let out a frustrated sigh, pulling her hands up to rub her temples, trying not to become overwhelmed by all of the work that needed to be done today. Stark Industries was dealing with the fallout of the public's opinion toward them after footage of why had happened last night was leaked on the nationwide news. It wasn't a good day, and Pepper was taking so many calls that she was having trouble focusing.

"Tell them a video conference requires a 12 hour notice, and we're too busy for one in the next few days." Pepper spoke over the intercom. "Thank you Nicole."

She couldn't remember just how many cups of coffee she'd had, and it wasn't even midday yet. The door to her office flew open and she looked up expecting to see Tony rolling his eyes at the amount of people in the building today, but she knew she wouldn't be seeing him anytime soon.

"I've got press lined up at the reception, phone lines are packed and we're struggling to keep up with the amount of calls and emails we're getting." A man spoke breathlessly as he stepped into the room.

"Okay, just calm down." Pepper stood up, walking over to him and trying to ease his hyperventilating. He was a new employee and this wasn't the best introduction into the company. "We have protocols for this type of thing, believe me, you're not responsible for dealing with everything on your own." she gave him her best comforting smile. "I'm sorry, my mind's a bit crowded today, what was your name again?"

"Nathan." he spoke unevenly. "I'm sorry, but there's queues all over this place and the phone lines are out of control. I didn't mean to barge in, but Nicole couldn't help."

"It's fine, Nathan." Pepper calmed his worries. "I'll show you how to deal with this sort of stuff."

Pepper was mildly relieved that Nathan had distracted her from her growing headache that was the unbelievable amount of work she needed to get through. She was CEO and perfectly capable of dealing with such a workload, but there was only so much she could do and so many hours she could focus when they were getting this sort of media attention.

The halls inside Stark Industries were crowded with rushed employees, all attached to their cell phones and reading reports. They were all on high-alert today since the party at Tony's, all of the media wanted a piece of information and they demanded answers to his role within the company.

Pepper soon followed Nathan to his desk and showed him the file that contained very basic notes on what directions must be followed in such circumstances when the company has to deal with overwhelming attention. She explained everything clearly and politely to him, knowing he felt horrible for having taken her from her work.

"Thank you Ms. Potts." he sighed, relieved.

"No problem. If there's anything else, just come to me." she encouraged.

"Oh! Ms. Potts!" Nicole called her, holding her hand over the speaker to the phone she was currently on. "Miss Stark was in earlier, but she left before I could let her know to see you."

Pepper seemed confused. "Rebecca was in?" she asked, watching as Nicole nodded. "Do you know why?"

Nicole shrugged, shaking her head as a negative. "All I know is that she went into Mr. Stark's office, and she was speaking with Mr. Justin Hammer."

Pepper nodded, but was still confused about the whole situation. "Okay...thank you."

* * *

"Ben?" Rebecca answered her phone as she walked into her bedroom at her house. She had tried to ignore the rubble and shattered glass in all of the rooms, and especially the smell of burnt material and varnish. "Yeah? Uh huh. Okay, well I just got home. I'm getting some stuff to take back to Pepper's. I'll be fine. Okay, well, I'll call you when I'm finished. Okay, bye."

Rebecca slipped her phone back into her pocket, gathering clothes and tossing them into a bag. She was only planning on a few more nights at Pepper's, but she didn't plan in wearing whatever clothes she could find of Pepper's that would fit her. She wanted so desperately to just curl up in her bed and go to sleep, but she knew she couldn't.

When she had compiled enough clothes and supplies for a few more days, she sat down on her bed and thought to herself about so many things that had been swimming around in her mind. She repeated Hammer's words over and over, trying to convince herself that he was wring. There was no way she would ever create a suit for that man, ever, but she knew he had a point when he said her father was in trouble and needed help. She could feel the guilt rise up inside her every time she remembered Hammer telling her she didn't care about her dad as much as he cared for her, and that she wouldn't sacrifice as much to help him. It wasn't true. At least, that's what she tried to convince herself. No matter how angry she was at her father at the moment, no matter how much she wanted to avoid him, she knew she needed to do something to help him.

* * *

Tony hadn't heard anything from SHIELD since his surprise meeting with them that morning, and he was still pissed off that Fury had been called out on duty before he could reveal to Tony what he meant by "haven't tried them all". He was still in the Iron Man suit, but managed to make his way home undetected by all of the media who so desperately searched for him throughout the day, and he was surprised that they weren't outside his front door.

Tony walked through the back of the house since it was now completely open due to the busted out glass wall and broken doorways. He shook his head regretfully at the mess, knowing he should have handled the situation a lot better, but he had too much anger inside of him, and Rhodey just happened to push him that he was the one who suffered his wrath. He heard noises coming from downstairs as he moved closer to the door frame, and he realized someone was in his house. He wasn't even prepared for what to do when he began walking down to the workshop in search of the intruder, but he soon found out who it was. Rebecca was standing face-to-face with him as she walked out of the door, heading for the stairs he was walking down. She was covered in grease and grime, and Tony assumed he came done here to work on her car. She was much like him, and when Tony was frustrated and angry, this is where he hid himself away from everyone, no doubt she was doing the same.

"How long have you been here?" Tony asked, breaking their silence as neither wanted to speak.

Rebecca stared back at him blankly. "I don't know...a while."

As Tony nodded along casually, Rebecca was relieved to hear her cell phone ringing in her pocket. She pulled it out and walked past her father, climbing the stairs to the living room. She couldn't help being angered at the fact that he was still in the Iron Man suit, which meant after she left with Pepper last night, he still hadn't realized his dangerous it was to be in it. His eyes were dark as if they were bruised, and altogether he looked horribly tired and worn out. He was dark in the face, and he looked sick. Rebecca assumed all of these symptoms were just a result of a hangover, but she was wrong. What she was seeing was his condition worsening, and she was oblivious to the fact.

"Hey, yeah I'm ready." she spoke to Ben over the phone. "Okay, I'll wait out the front, see you soon."

With that, she put her phone back in her pocket and walked up to her room. She was wearing her old clothes she worked in, covered in grease and had holes in the material from where she had caught on metals, but she didn't bother fixing herself up before Ben arrived to take her back to Pepper's apartment. He was being incredibly supportive, and she appreciated everything he was doing for her considering that he was the one who probably suffered the most shock last night.

Rebecca didn't want to talk to her dad yet, she was still too angry and didn't want to say something she would regret. She couldn't help feel guilty for wanting to put space and time between them, she knew he needed help, but she was working on that. She grabbed her bag of clothes and swung it over her shoulder, closing her bedroom door and walking down to the hall.

"Bec," Tony called, walking in dressed in his usual casual clothes he had quickly pulled on after disassembling the suit. He was instantly saddened at the sight of the crowded bag she was carrying. "You don't have to leave."

Rebecca tried not to look at him, heading to the door. "I can't be here right now."

Tony let out a desperate sigh. "I'm sorry!" he blurted. "I hurt you, I know, but I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been so stupid. I'm really, really sorry."

"Dad, this all happened less than 12 hours ago." she pointed out. "I need time to wrap my head around what _happened_ before I can...do this."

Tony didn't want her to go. He didn't want his own daughter to feel uncomfortable in her own home all because of him and what he had done to this place. He didn't know how to stop her from leaving, and he thought it best to let her just deal with things on her own terms. Maybe it would be better for everyone. Pepper would take care of her, be there for her, she wouldn't hurt her or endanger her, and she would be okay. That's all he wanted.

"I never meant to hurt you." he told her sincerely. "But...I get it, you don't want to be here."

"Look around," she raised her voice. "Why would I want to be here?"

Tony glanced around the room as well, mainly for effect since he knew exactly how bad it looked. "Yeah, no I get it, this isn't...the best...I can have it fixed up. I can. I can have it all cleaned up and most of it _relatively_ clear by morning and you can come back."

"I can't be here." she said simply. "I don't care about the furniture, or the glass, I don't care about what this place looks like. That's isn't why I'm doing this. Don't you get that?"

Tony lowered his gaze again, feeling somewhat guilty that he though he could sway her back home, but he knew this wasn't a problem that could be fixed with those sort of resolutions.

Rebecca stopped and turned to face him. "What did you do after I left?" Tony's gaze dropped to the floor, knowing she could hint at his behavior. "Did you worry, about anyone else? About _yourself_? Did you make sure no one was hurt, or worse? No. You picked up another bottle, didn't you?" she asked, not even expecting an answer as she knew already by his expression. "You didn't even take the suit off."

Tony didn't answer her question about whether or not he worried about himself - that'd been all he was doing for the past few weeks, but he still didn't want to tell her. "I wasn't going to hurt anyone." he defended. "I know the suit's dangerous, but I'd never..."

"I didn't think you _would_," she told him. "...but there's a lot of things I thought you wouldn't do. I was worried about you, dad. I don't always think of _myself_, as much as I'd like to because I'm sick of having an adult mentality at my age, but I thought you were going to _kill_ yourself." Rebecca's eyes stung as she confessed her fears to her father. "I don't know how, but I thought you were, and that'll haunt me forever."

Tony's heart wrenched at the uneasiness in her voice as she told him what she felt. He hated himself enough, but he has overlooked the fact she was worried for him, not for her or for Pepper or Ben.

"I'm sorry," he spoke, exasperated. "I don't know...how to fix this one. I screwed up."

The sound of tyres rolling into the driveway made Rebecca pull her thoughts back to what she was doing. She lifted her bag once again, turning and heading for the door.

"Pepper deserves your apologies more than me," she told him. "More than anyone."

Tony closed his eyes sadly as he heard the door slam closed. He didn't expect an easy conversation with Rebecca, but he wasn't anticipating another outlook on the situation either. It would take time to apologize to Rebecca and gain back that trust he once held, but he was also ashamed at the way he treated Pepper, and as Rebecca suggested, she deserved an apology. A damn good one.

* * *

Ben didn't push a conversation when Rebecca climbed into the car silently, putting her bag in the back and settling comfortably into the seat. He could tell she was upset, and he had summed up that Tony must have been home. She looked as if she was distracting herself all day with a project or just tinkering with something small. He only wished he could make her feel better. Anytime she would talk to him about her father, or any family, she always spoke of her inability to escape the drama that came along with her surname, whether it be media-related or self-inflicted, and he was disappointed that she had to suffer through it again after she was so cautious with introducing him to her life.

Rebecca knew Ben would come to the conclusion that she was upset, given her silence and the fact she hadn't spoken more than three words since getting in the care, and so she didn't question his decision to take the entrance onto the freeway that led them to the same little lake and boardwalk that she had fallen in love with. He stopped the car in the same spot as he did before, and he slid onto the hood of the car to sit with her as she joined him. The water was peaceful, and the birds chirped in the trees, it was relaxing and incredibly soothing.

"Thank you," Rebecca snuggled her head against his shoulder as his arm supported her neck against the windscreen.

Ben turned his head and easily placed a soft kiss to her forehead. "You're welcome."

They sat like that for almost half an hour, neither of them speaking, as they enjoyed just being with each other and away from the drama that had taken over their lives since last night. It didn't affect Ben directly, but he was included in her life now and he accepted it for all it was. Tony hadn't displayed the greatest parental role when Ben had met him for the first time, but from what Rebecca boasted of him, he was so much more than just a guy who drank too much and made a big mistake.

Rebecca sighed loudly, finally letting out her frustration. "I just want this to be _over_. I want things to go back to normal." Ben noticed she had closed her eyes, squeezing them shut as if she were wishing. "I don't want to _do_ this anymore."

"It's not gonna blow over anytime soon, but I promise you that it _will_." he assured.

"I was a bitch to my dad-"

"Come on, stop beating yourself up-"

"It's true, I was really rude, and I was...a _bitch_." she admitted. "Ugh, I just can't deal with this anymore. I need to...do something...to help, change things."

Ben's eyebrows knotted together in confusion. "Do what?"

She didn't want to tell him. She didn't want him to know what she had been doing in the workshop all afternoon, and what was being created.

"Nothing." she slumped her shoulders. "There's nothing I _can_ do. I just wish there was."

Another comfortable silence fell over both of them as they co times to lay on the hood of the car, enjoying the cool breeze and serenity that surrounded them and relaxed their thoughts as much as possible. Rebecca felt Ben's arm smooths over her shoulder, trying as best he could to comfort her amid the silence, but he soon caught an idea.

"I'm going to take you out to dinner tonight." he told her, a demanding yet gentle tone.

"Oh, really?" she smiled, turning to lean on him slightly as she stated up at him.

"Mhm." he nodded. "We'll go to...Italian. We'll pretend that _nothing_ is wrong and _no one_ else exists."

Rebecca was beginning to become excited about the idea of going out for the night, but it was quickly overshadowed when she remembered the situation her family was in. She was lucky she had made it into Stark Industries without being tackled for a few words, only just getting by and to the door.

"I...we can't." she told him sadly. "I can't go out. There are reporters swarming my every move. Right here, _this_ is the most comfortable I've been today, they can't find me." she explained. "I'm sorry..."

Ben sat up, pulling Rebecca with him and holding his arms around her. "Hey, it's okay, s'not your fault. Damn reporters, why can't they mind their own business?" he huffed, annoyed at their lack of decency. "Well, I'm still taking you out, so don't go making plans."

"Where? Ben, I can't go anywhere without them hassling me."

"I'm not letting _them_ stop me from having dinner with my girlfriend."

They both paused for a few moments, realizing the title Ben had just given her. They both knew where they stood with each other and where they were going with their relationship, but neither of them referred to one another as boyfriend and girlfriend. Rebecca liked it, she liked being called his girlfriend, but she could by his immediate tensing that he was nervous of her reaction.

"Dinner it is." she inclined her head upward to give him a soft kiss, easing his worry.

* * *

Hammer sat in a conference room in Stark Industries, grinning at the meeting he had just sat through confirming his presentation at the Stark Expo. He didn't have the best track record for making a successful weapon that captured the same frenzy that Stark Industries did, but he was determined that change that. He was planning on unleashing something on the world that no one else would, and what Tony Stark would never do. In Hammer's eyes, the Iron Man suit was the greatest weapon to ever be created, and he shared the same outlook on the weapon as Obadiah Stane had - it was meant to be given to the world. It was meant for destruction, and protection, and it couldn't be in one man's hands forever, it needed to be broadcast and given to the people, and since Justin Hammer desired attention and worship more than anyone, he was going to be the one to do that.

''How's it going?'' he spoke into his phone in a professional tone. ''Get those things going...at least as best you can, we'll need something to work with. Oh, the girl? I'm working on it. Why are _you_ so desperate to meet her anyway? Oh, right, your little 'family feud', gotcha. Yeah, listen, this is _my_ project okay? _I_ call the shots and_ I'm_ makin' the plays right now. She'll be on our side soon enough, I'm working on it, and _not_ alone. Now, go make those things work Ivan, or you know the other end of the deal...''

* * *

**Okay, so I hope this chapter wasn't as boring as I, personally, think it is. I promise for a much more interesting chapter next, and much more development on the sub-plots. Please review, I have this need to know if you guys are enjoying what I'm writing or you have any suggestions regarding the plot. Thanks for reading!**


	16. Chapter 16

Pepper never gave up on work, not once had she even admitted to struggling with the workload, but that was before she became CEO of the worlds leading weapons manufacturing company. Stark Industries was a nightmare on this particular day with reporters going to the extremes to try and get inside the building in hopes to get a word on the situation or even a quick interview. Not to mention the photographers desperately seeking out Tony to see how he was, or Rebecca, or Pepper herself just to have something to take to the had done it though. The final call of her almost hundred for the day, and it was the Head of The Board Of Directors. She handled the conversation well, given the circumstance, but agreed to speak at a later date when things settled. Pepper sat with her head in her hands for a few minutes after hanging up the phone, and she decided she was giving up for the day, she deserved it anyway.

"Nicole," she held her finger on the intercom. "Block my phone line for the afternoon, I'm officially finished for the day."

"Yes, Ms. Potts."

Pepper relaxed back into her chair and swirled around to look out the window. Although she could see everything out there, the glass was tinted heavily so that no prying eyes could see her. Camera crews were all over the street, desperately awaiting someone important to step out. They had even hassled Happy when he helped Pepper inside earlier that morning, asking him for his opinion. She wanted to go home, take a long, hot shower, make a cup of tea, order some takeout and spend the rest of the evening watching mindless television, but she knew she would have to finish off paperwork for the rest of the night.

Pepper called Happy and let him know she would be leaving soon, and she gathered the rest of her work and slipped it inside her folder, carrying it neatly under her arm. Walking down the hall, she said her goodbyes to Nicole and Nathan for the day, feeling sorry that they would be there for another hour. They also had to deal with a lot today, and she appreciated all of her staff a lot more.

"Ms. Potts," Pepper turned her head to see who was calling her, and she wasn't pleased. "I was hoping I could see you before you left."

Pepper gave him a slight smile to be polite. "Yes, Mr. Hammer?"

"I was wondering, since I've got my slot all sorted for the Expo, if Tony would be interested an a particular idea I have. It's almost...a collaboration." he explained. "I'll need to talk to him about it."

Pepper suppressed the smile she had building up as she laughed internally at his proposition. There was absolutely no way that Tony would even consider collaborating with this man, ever. He was lucky to be even getting to present at the Expo, which was worry enough.

"I don't think that would be-"

"I understand, he's a busy man." Hammer interrupted, trying to charm his way through. "But I think this project could really lift his spirits if he agreed to collaborate with Hammer Industries on this."

Pepper knew what he was trying to do, she'd been in this business for a long time and she wasn't stupid. He wanted to give Hammer Industries a good name, a good reputation, and considering that Justin Hammer wasn't exactly the best at creating successful weapons that would give them that reputation, his only hope was to be seen working with Stark Industries.

"I'll talk to Mr. Stark about it." she told him, hoping that would please him enough to leave. "But I can't guarantee he'll agree to work with you."

Hammer put his hands up defensively, playfully. "Hey, I understand."

"Okay then, well, I look forward to seeing you at the Expo."

"Wait," Hammer stopped her once again. "I've been meaning to ask, how is the youngest Stark? Rebecca, is it?"

Pepper narrowed her eyes at him. "Yes, and Rebecca is doing great."

"That's good," he nodded. "It's just that with all this drama, you'd think she would be...how do I put it...having mixed feelings, y'know, regarding the company and weapons and stuff."

"What exactly do you mean, Hammer?" she asked forcefully.

"Oh, I was just speaking with her earlier and she seemed upset about a few things, company-wise." he told her, but Pepper wasn't convinced. "Hey it's none my business, right?" he shrugged, walking away. "Just concerning. I'll see you again soon, Ms. Potts."

Justin walked away with a hidden grin on his face, knowing he had confused Pepper and left her wondering what he was talking about, which was exactly what he wanted. If he could make Pepper suspicious, Rebecca would come to him for an argument, which is where he could persuade her. He didn't know Rebecca enough to anticipate what she would do, but it was obvious she couldn't resist an argument with him.

* * *

Once Rebecca left with her bag, it was clear just how bad things were. Tony need wanted to feel the way he did when she walked out the door. He had pushed her out if her own home with his irresponsibility, he had made her worry he wouldn't be here anymore. She thought he was going to kill himself by drinking so much and wearing the suit, but she didn't know that he was worrying about things far different from a little alcohol poisoning. His health was going downhill fast, and there was nothing he could do. Fury had said he 'hadn't tried them all', referring to the elements, but Tony knew he had tried them all. Every day he had run different tests, he was sure he had tried them all.

"Stupid eyepatch," he grumbled as he sat back in his chair in the workshop.

Fury had been called away before he could explain anything to a clueless Tony, something about the South West, he wasn't really paying attention to his excuse but rather his words beforehand. He was still in disbelief that 'Natalie Rushman' was Agent Romanoff of SHIELD. There was so much changing all because of the stupid party he had, and he just didn't want to deal with any of it. He needed to apologize to Pepper, to let her know exactly how he felt about her before it was too late for him. He needed to apologize to Rebecca, and let her know how proud he was of her, because it was too late.

"Sir, the tests have come back." Jarvis informed him.

"Pull 'em up on the screen." Tony instructed. "All of them."

"It seems none of the tests have detected any other element other than the known, and once again they have come back negative and failed."

Tony groaned. "What the _hell_ was he talking about?"

* * *

Rebecca walked out of her guest room at Pepper's apartment, dressed in a black skirt and loose fitting top, staring down at her feet at her favorite pair of flats. She still had no idea where Ben was taking her, and she wasn't too keen on the idea of going into the city, but it wouldn't be so bad when he was with her.

"Yep, definitely those shoes." Pepper approved with a smile.

Rebecca sighed, nodding as she walked into the kitchen and poured a glass of juice. She was excited to spend more time with Ben, she really was, but she couldn't help putting a bad spin on her night.

"Hey," Pepper followed behind. "What's the matter?"

Rebecca shook her head. "I shouldn't be going out. Not when...I shouldn't."

"Why not?"

"Because...I just shouldn't." she shrugged. "It's like I don't even care about dad. There _he_ is at home all by himself, everything's falling apart and here_ I_ am ready to go out for the night. It's not right."

"Sweetie," Pepper began. "I _know_ you care about your dad, you have nothing to prove to me. I also know that you've been worrying about him all day, and...I know you didn't sleep well last night."

Rebecca shifted uncomfortably. "I...just had a bad dream."

"A nightmare." Pepper corrected. "Because you're scared. Scared that you might've lost him."

"I should go talk to him." she suggested. "But I'm too damn angry."

"Stop pushing yourself into feeling guilty. Just give it some time, I promise things will get better." Pepper gave her a comforting smile. "But as for now...you're going out and having a good night, okay? Take you mind off things, and relax."

Rebecca nodded, although she couldn't shake the guilty feeling she had. "Okay."

Pepper sat down at the kitchen bench, looking over the checklist of work she needed to do tonight. It was mostly straight-forward documents, sign here, sign there, read this, approve that. It was boring, and she was tired. Then, she remembered her conversation with Hammer that afternoon, and she was curious.

"You were at the office today, weren't you?" Pepper asked.

Rebecca had to take a moment to think about it. She had busied herself all day and almost forgot, but speaking with Justin Hammer in the hall rang through her head.

"Yeah, I was."

"And you spoke to Justin Hammer?"

Rebecca panicked. Pepper knew, she must've overheard them, or maybe that receptionist had heard the whole thing.

"Unfortunately." she nodded. "W-why? What's up?"

Pepper shook her head. "Nothing, it's uh...he seemed weird."

"That's nothing unusual."

"No, I mean _weirder._" she corrected. "He said you...had concerns."

Rebecca was honestly intrigued now. "He said _what_? Concerns?"

Pepper nodded. "Something about the company and the weapons, you had mixed feelings."

Hammer was lying. He was trying to make Pepper suspicious of Rebecca for some reason, and she didn't understand considering he wanted her help. Why was he doing this? Suddenly he just wouldn't give up on his offer, even though it hadn't been brought up since their meeting at Monaco.

"I think he's just twisting my words or something," Rebecca coolly told her. "You know how he is."

"Mm, I just don't want to see him around Stark Industries for a while-"

Pepper was cut off by the doorbell, and a few knocks along with it. That would be Ben, ready to take Rebecca out on his very secretive date he had planned.

* * *

"Wow...guess I _did_ go a little crazy." Tony observed the feedback Jarvis provided him regarding the damage to the suit.

Granted, it wasn't all him. Rhodey had thrown a few good swings as well and was responsible for at least half the damage. As his mind drifted to his friend, he remembered hearing on the news and via updates on his computer that he had taken the suit he was wearing back to to the Military base, allowing them to view and utilize it. It wasn't that he was angry, which he was slightly, but he was annoyed that Rhodey had so clearly chosen sides when it came to the government and himself. Rhodey had put so much on the line to help Tony, risking his career and reputation by just being his friend, and Tony wasn't about to get mad at him or be selfish enough to consider himself betrayed.

"Jarvis, run those tests again." Tony ordered.

"Exactly which tests, sir?"

"All of them."

"Sir, I have run these tests more than three times. All results will remain the same, there will be no-"

"I don't want to hear it, just do it."

"Sir-"

"I said _do_ it."

"Very well."

Tony sat back in his chair, lifting his shirt to reveal the veins that were growing outward in his skin, covering his chest with the dark lines. He dropped his shirt, pulling out the device he was all too familiar with now. Blood came to the surface as he pricked his finger on the metal and then cleaned it up, waiting for response.

"Blood toxicity: 85%."

He was going downhill, fast.

* * *

"Close your eyes!" Ben told her, laughing at her impatience.

"I'm not one for surprises." she shook her head.

"I know, that's why I'm doing it."

He led her from the car, and then down a small trail that frankly scared her for a moment when she heard sticks crunch underneath her shoes. The smell was familiar, and the feeling was comforting, she had an idea of where they were.

"Are we at the lake?" she asked.

Ben sighed. "Yes, and no."

"Yes and no? What do you mean? We're either there or we're n-"

Ben quickly pulled her hands down from her face and her eyes snapped open, revealing what he had planned. There was a small picnic rug in the middle of a clearing, just by the water. There was no boardwalk in sight, which meant the trail he was leading her down was to get away from where they usually were. On the blanket were candles that were already lit, a basket of mixed snacks and then an accompanying basket full of delicious food, clearly Italian.

"Wow..." she managed to say.

"Since I couldn't take you to Italian, I brought Italian to us." he smiled, wrapping his arms around her waist. "No one will bother us here, just like you said."

Rebecca didn't know what to say to him, the whole setting was perfect. "I don't deserve someone like you." she confessed honestly. "This is the sweetest thing anyone have ever done for me."

Ben smiled widely. "Oh please, I'm the lucky one."

"I'm serious, this is...you're amazing." she giggled.

He leant his head forward and rested his lips onto her as she accepted. Ben was considerably taller than she was, and it resulted in Rebecca wrapping her around around his neck to hold herself closer. This kiss was different, it lasted longer, it was lingering, it was perfect. Rebecca ran her hands up to his hair, unable to resist doing so, and he slid his hands further down her back in return. After a few moments, they parted with a small gasp, catching their breath as they looked at each other happily.

"Dinner." Rebecca looked over to the basket.

"Certainly."

It was such a peaceful night, Rebecca wasn't expecting to be so relaxed. When Ben had insisted they go to dinner, she assumed there would be camera's just about everywhere and they wouldn't get a moment of peace, but here they were. Dinner was wonderful, and so was the snacks. Cookies and cream ice-cream, peanut butter cups, and raspberry swirls, all of which were her favorite junk food and he had obviously noted that.

When they had finished dinner and cleared most of the items back into the basket, they settled in comfortably together on the picnic rug. Ben was laying in the middle, and Rebecca way lying by his side but leaning close enough that he hear rested on his chest as his hand played with her hair.

"Why does your hair smell so nice all the time?" he asked out of nowhere.

"You smell my hair regularly?"

"Well, whenever I can." he laughed. "It smells like..."

"Apple. It's plain old apple shampoo." she giggled.

"Well, it smells good on you." his fingers continued intertwining through her strands of hair, massaging her into closing her eyes.

"Thank you for tonight," she smiled. "It was perfect."

Ben grinned to himself, happy with his efforts and that they had paid off. "It was."

"I didn't deserve it though."

"Would you stop it?" he groaned. "Stop talking about yourself like that, please. You deserved it, end of discussion."

Rebecca was stunned into silence for a short moment until she cracked up laughing at his serious tone of voice. He didn't laugh with her at first, trying to maintain his seriousness, but he couldn't help if when her giggles continued.

"Alright," he sat up, pulling her with him. "Obviously I'm not the strictest person, I get it, I can't do a good angry voice."

Rebecca smiled widely. "That's a good thing."

This time, Rebecca didn't let Ben make the move to her lips first, and she took the opportunity to throw her arms around his neck and pull him close. They stayed like that for a while, letting the candles that had been burning fade away. It was perfect. The whole night was just perfect.

"I hope this took your mind off of everything." he smiled.

It hadn't. As much as she wanted to take her mind off things, there was always something else in the back of her mind that kept telling her she was being selfish. She shouldn't be able to enjoy herself while everyone else dealt with what was going on. It wasn't fair.

"It did." she smiled, lying for his benefit.

"Good." he nodded before pulling her lips back to his.

* * *

Tony sat at his desk in the workshop, not even bothering to walk upstairs and try and get some sleep. His mind was running faster than ever, but he didn't do anything. It wasn't ideas running through his mind, it was problems. Problems he couldn't fix. Pepper deserved an apology, she deserves so much more than what he had done to her. He couldn't call her though, not this late in the evening. He had so many thoughts though.

"Jarvis-" he began, but quickly reevaluated his idea. "Uh, never mind."

A piece of blank paper sat on the desk, off to the side, practically begging for him to write down everything he was thinking. Tony was never one for being sentimental, he couldn't just write was he was thinking. He needed to talk to her, he needed to explain things to her. Rebecca needed an apology as well, but he knew she was too sensitive at the moment for talking. He just hoped that she wasn't worrying about him still, that she was being a teenager again like she was beginning to. He needed to know she would be okay, and that Pepper would be okay when he finally lost his losing fight.

At the same time, Pepper sat by the phone in her kitchen, contemplating. The last thing she wanted to do was hear Tony's excuses or remarks, but she wanted to hear him. As much as she denied anything she felt for him, it didn't change a thing. She wanted to talk to him, but she was stubborn as well, and she refused to make the first move.

"Oh, you're awake," Rebecca walked through the door, locking it behind her.

Pepper quickly turned her attention back to the room she was in now. "Yeah, just trying to finish up these reports."

Rebecca frowned. "Go to bed. You've been working all day."

"How was your night?" she ignored her orders, yawning, which didn't help her case.

"It was...great."

"Good." Pepper smiled, but she was obviously very tired. "I think...these reports can wait until morning."

"I think they can." Rebecca agreed.

* * *

**Okay, kind of a filler chapter, sorry about that, but I thought I might as well fill the gaps and create as much background and subplot I could. Much more interesting stuff next chapter and I'm working on incorporating a big twist into the story, but for now it's a work in progress. Please review! Thanks for reading!**


	17. Chapter 17

Rebecca awoke the next morning to hear Pepper speaking to someone else in the living room. She was curious as to who it was, but she wasn't comfortable in the idea of walking out to see. Her legs swung off the bed lazily as she sat up, trying to decipher what she was hearing. It was 6.45am. As she closed in on the door, she finally settled on the identity of the guest.

"Are you sure things are okay?" Happy asked in a concerned tone.

Pepper waited a moment to respond. "Mhm, yeah."

"Pepper..."

"No, everything is fine, I just want it all to be fixed. I want the Board to get off my back, I want the reporters to back off for while, I want my phone to stop ringing every chance it gets and I just...I want this to be _over_."

Rebecca was saddened to hear how Pepper was feeling, although she knew she was hiding those feelings all along. Happy must have made an unexpected visit to see if they were okay. She just hoped the conversation didn't move on to her, she didn't want to hear that, but it was predictable.

"How's Bec?" he asked after doing his best to assure Pepper things would turn around.

Pepper sighed. "I don't know. She's okay one minute, but then she's just flooded by guilt. She's putting on a brave face, just like the rest of us are."

Rebecca hated hearing them talk about her, even if it was just little concerns like that. She was fine, mostly. Sure, she felt like crap for most of the day but she didn't want them worrying about her, there was so much more going on. All her life everyone has always worried about her, mostly her dad, and she appreciated it, but she hated being such a burden for no reason.

"Actually...there is something worrying me, about her." Pepper told him, causing Rebecca to push her ear up closer to the door. "Yesterday I was talking to Justin Hammer, not by choice, but he said he was talking to Bec and she had 'mixed feelings' about...something about the company. I don't know, it doesn't make sense."

"Have you asked her about it?" Happy questioned.

Pepper nodded. "She told me he must've twisted her words or something, but I can't help thinking the timing is too off for that. I mean, this happens, and then Hammer tells me she's having concerns about the company...maybe she doesn't want _me_ running it."

"Pepper, come on, that's not what it is."

"No, think about it. This is her family's company, and her dad is getting all of this attention, she's unhappy with the way things are going and I'm supposed to be in control of it all."

"Pepper, you _are_ her family. You're going way off on this one, trust me. Just ask her about it again."

"I don't want to." Pepper shook her head. "No, I'll just...give it some time, it'll work itself out."

"Pepper-"

"It's okay, it's been a rough few days, time is what we need." she smiled, trying to convince Happy that she was fine with her suspicions. "Alright, let's get going. Day 2 begins now."

Happy chuckled. "It's like you're talking about the apocalypse."

"Might as well be."

Rebecca waited until she heard the door shut before she backed away from the door. As if she didn't feel bad enough beforehand, she now had the guilt of worrying Pepper on her shoulders as well. This was all because of Justin Hammer. He had manipulated Pepper into worrying about Rebecca, making her think she was to blame for whatever lies he had told her. There was no way he could this, he was using personal tactics to get to get to Rebecca, and she was not going to put up with it.

Walking out into the kitchen, she spotted another note sitting on the kitchen bench and walked over to read it.

_Another big day ahead of me, don't wait up. Order some pizza, watch some movies, relax. Love, Pepper._

Rebecca smiled at the little heart she always put at the end for her, it was cute and comforting as she remembered all of the times Pepper was always there for her. Not once did she let Rebecca go through anything alone, she was always there. That reminder pained her when she thought of what Pepper was thinking. That Rebecca didn't like her being in charge of Stark Industries and that everything that had been going on was her fault. There was no way she was letting Hammer get his way with this one. She flipped the note over and picked up a pen, putting it to the paper and writing her own note.

_If I'm not back when you read this note I'm probably with Ben somewhere, but call if you need me. I'll be out all day if you come home. Love, Rebecca._

* * *

Tony walked around his now empty house, missing the times when he would hear Pepper's heels clicking against the tiles, or Rebecca's music as she worked in something. Now it was only silence, everywhere. He still hang heard back from Nick Fury and couldn't find any leads to get in contact with him, he would simply have to wait. His plans for the day were what he had worked on all night. Apologizing.

"Jarvis, call Hap-" Tony was cut off by his mental reminder that Happy most likely was with Pepper at the company, since she was CEO now. "Where are my keys?"

"Ms. Ports arranged your keys in the cabinet above your storage shelves." Jarvis informed him.

Tony rolled his eyes, immediately taken back to when Pepper had made that decision.

_"You cannot just leave your keys all over the house!" Pepper argued as she followed him into the living room._

_Tony groaned and threw himself into the couch. "It's too early to talk about this."_

_Pepper glanced at her watch. "It's 10.30am, Tony."_

_"Exactly." he muttered._

_"Either your going to lose the keys, or someone's going to get ahold of them."_

_"Who the hell is going to get ahold of them?" Tony asked, shocked that Pepper thought someone could just walk in. "Do you know how complex and extreme the security is here?"_

_"I meant, you have a child running around the house who could easily find them." she corrected._

_"Rebecca is eight years old, I don't think she's going to..." Tony thought to himself, realizing Pepper had a point, but he hardly wanted to admit to that. "Where do you suggest I put them then, huh?"_

_"In a high place, where no one can reach."_

_"Then I can't reach them." he argued. "Listen, you take care of it, just let me know where they end up."_

He smiled when he remembered, hardly believing that he would miss such petty little arguments that they had, but he did. He walked downstairs, searching for the cabinet and retrieving the keys to his car of choice for the day.

"Jarvis, what's the time?"

"It's currently 8.23am."

Right. That meant Pepper would be at Stark Industries by now, working. Tony still didn't know what to say to her, even though e had been up all night trying to find words. That, and running numerous tests once again. He would have to work on his speech in the car, or maybe he'd improvise. He put the keys in the ignition and smiled when he heard the motor roar to life. He hadn't driven this car in so long, there was no way he'd be thinking of his apology on the way, not when he would be enjoying this thrill, he would have to settle on the improv.

* * *

Rebecca arrived at the gates of her house, stepping out of the cab as she didn't like the idea of taking it down the driveway to the front door. She walked the long path down to the house, and easily made her way inside. Immediately, she noticed the silence that overtook the house, and she wondered if her dad was home or not. The door was always locked when there was no one home, but since Jarvis has her whole identity in the system, she was accepted entry with no struggle.

"Dad?" she called out, curious to see if anyone was in fact home. She hadn't seen Natalie since the party and wondered if she was here too. "Hello?"

"Miss, there is no one at the residence." Jarvis informed her, sparing the effort to search the rooms.

Rebecca then calmed down at the thought of being here alone, she could work in a few things she had abandoned last time she was here. The suit was was building was making remarkable progress. She was surprised and just how quickly she would assemble a suit by creating separate attachments first. Of course, she needed an empty house to be able to weld things and test things, which she had been doing whenever she had the opportunity.

Rebecca changed into her usual old clothes that she had claimed for working in the shop, and then she headed down the stairs to resume her project. She was surprised at how clean the shop was at the moment, she thought her dad would be working on something at least, taking his mind off of things as she had been. It was clear by the empty glasses and mess on the desk that he had in fact been down here, but she didn't know why when there was no evidence of any work being done.

"Jarvis, pull up the plans on screen and assembly structure." she ordered, opening the locker she had stored underneath the old car to hide her growing project. "Also, I need to be notified if anyone is around the premises. Gates, gardens, front door, let me know. I need at least a five minute warning."

"Very well."

Rebecca then began working. Although her hands were focused on the suit and the metals she was working with, her mind was only offering half of its usual intelligence. The other half was occupied with plotting her argument she would give to Justin Hammer in the afternoon when she visited Hammer Industries for a 'business chat'. She would let him know exactly where he stood in his proposition and issue a serious warning on involving Pepper with any of his schemes. The last thing she needed was for Pepper to be in a mess because of somethings she could easily fix. Sometimes she hated that she didn't tell her dad about the first time Hammer approached her with his offer, although it was more of a threat, to build a suit for his 'army' plans, but she knew it would cause even bigger problems. Still, she couldn't help wish for her dad's advice and support, but she vowed to fight this one on her own. There was no need to make it any more complicated than it already was.

"Alright, Dummy," she clicked her fingers for the robots attention. "I have a job for you, hopefully. Jarvis I need the comparison formula up on the screen and a full scan of the attachments for confirmation. Let's get this thing going."

* * *

Tony sped down the freeway, completely ignoring the speed limit, after stopping for strawberries from the stand on the side if the road. He planned on smoothing things over first of all with a gift, and strawberries seemed appropriate. He could remember Pepper having some sort of connection with strawberries and he hoped it would work in his favor.

Walking through the corridor of Stark Industries was not as pleasant as he had hoped. The stares, the glares, the criticism and the judgement were all following him as he made his way to the CEO's office. Sure, he had behaved rather insanely the other night, but these people used to worship him, he didn't understand how they could just hate him so suddenly.

"Excuse me Me. Stark, you can't-" The receptionist tried to stop him entering Pepper's office.

Tony was shocked at the reaction he was getting from people. This was his damn building and his damn company, he could go in any room he wanted.

"I think I can." he told her as he opened the door. "Bye now."

"Mr. Stark!"

The woman followed behind in preparation to apologize to Pepper for the interruption, but she was too busy talking on the phone to worry about an argument she knew was pointless. The woman backed out of the room with an apologetic look, hoping Pepper wasn't angry. The door closed behind him and the room became silent until Pepper continued her phone conversation. Tony looked around the room, observing what have she had done. There were piles of what seemed to be his belongings in the corner from where he used to occupy the office, but other than that, Pepper seemed too busy to add her own touch to things.

"Well, then, tell the president to sign an order. We'll talk about it at the Expo. Will Tony Stark be there?" she looked over to him.

He stared back, not knowing what to say. "Will I?"

"No, he will not. Bye."

Tony heard the phone click back down on the dock, and he was honestly scared of what Pepper was going to do. She was dressed in her usual, professional attire and her hair was pulled back, her ginger hair sweeping just above her eyebrows.

Pepper hadn't anticipated seeing Tony today, and although she did want to see him at some point to ease her worrying of whether or not he was okay. Considering what he had done, she had thought that was more than he deserved anyway.

"Got a minute?" he asked as he dragged a chair over to sit in front of her desk.

"No." she spoke bluntly.

"Come on, you just got off the phone. You're fine, 30 seconds."

Pepper glanced down at her watch. "29, 28..."

Tony couldn't do this under pressure. He had spent all night trying to come up with the words, and his plan to improvise was not working out at all.

"I was driving over here, and I thought I was coming to basically apologize, but I'm not."

"Oh, you _didn't_ come here to apologize?" Pepper was angry.

"Look, that goes without saying," he gave her a sincere look. "...and I'm working on that. But I haven't been entirely upfront with you, and I just want to try and make good." Tony stopped to stare at the stupid contraption that Pepper had on her desk that was driving him insane. "Can I move this? This is crazy."

"No."

Tony sighed, moving away from the device and into Pepper's clear view. "Do you know how short life is? And if I never got to express- And by the way, this is somewhat revelatory to me. I'm not expecting you to...Look, here's what I'm trying to say, I'm just gonna say it."

"Let me just stop you right here, okay?" she interrupted. "Because if you say 'I' one more time, I will actually hurl something at your head." Pepper warned, and Tony could tell she wasn't joking. "I am trying to run a company. Do you have any _idea_ what that entails?"

"Yes."

"People are relying on you to be Iron Man, and you've disappeared, and all I'm doing is putting out your fires and taking the heat for it." she explained. "I am trying to do the job that _you_ were meant to do." Tony nodded in agreement as Pepper cooled down from her rage. Then, her glance moved over to the box he had sat down on her desk. "Did you bring me strawberries? Do you know there's only one thing in earth that I'm allergic to?"

"Allergic to strawberries." Tony concluded, cursing himself for thinking the opposite. "This is progress Pepper. I knew there was a correlation between you and this."

"I need you-" she began.

"I need you too! Thats what I'm-"

"-to leave, now." she finished.

Tony sat back. Sadness overwhelmed him as he had come so close to admitting everything to her. His feelings, his condition, everything, and because of her anger at what he'd done, she completely shut him down. Never had he felt so hurt before.

"Ms. Potts?"

Tony was pulled from his mental insecurities to look over at the door where 'Natalie' stood with Happy.

"Hi, come on in." Pepper welcomed.

"Wheels up in 25 minutes." Natalie informed her.

"Thank you."

"Anything else boss?" Happy asked, referring to Pepper.

"I'm good, Hap." Tony answered, misinterpreting.

"No...I'll be just another minute."

Tony chuckled to himself at his loss of both his assistant and his bodyguard. "I lost both the kids in the divorce."

"Are you blending in well here, Natalie?" he turned to the woman. "Your name is Natalie, isn't it?" Natalie gave him a glare, although no one else in the room deciphers the reason why. "I thought you two didn't get along."

Pepper and Natalie shrugged their shoulders. "No, that's not so."

"Actually while you're here, maybe you and Natalie can discuss the matter of the personal belongings." Pepper spoke as she stood up to leave, following Happy out.

"Absolutely." Natalie nodded in agreement.

"Oh, and Rebecca is staying with me for a while until...whenever she sees fit. You need to apologize to her. She looks up to you, you're her father, don't push her away too."

"Believe me, she's my_ first_ priority in all of this." he assured her with a seriousness that made Pepper aware that he was working on that.

"Okay,"

Tony watched as Pepper left, his heart slightly aching at his missed opportunity to finally confess himself to her. He wished she could give him the chance he needed, because this was the first time he was vulnerable enough to feel as though he could actually tell her he was dying, and what he felt for her, she needed to know. He understood that she was mad at him, and he couldn't blame her given what he'd done, but she needed to give him a chance to explain. That was his chance, and it was gone. He should've blurted what he wanted to say out when he first walked in, he should've made her listen.

"Im surprised you can keep your mouth shut." Natalie muttered as she cleaned up the papers on the desk, annoyed at Tony's behavior.

"Boy, you're good." Tony commented. "Is there anything real about you? Do you even speak Latin?"

In response to that, Natalie walked past him swiftly, speaking foreign as he listened in, clueless.

"What? What did you just say?" Tony asked, intrigued.

"It means you can either drive yourself home or I can have you collected." she told him firmly, turning out the door and walking away quickly.

Tony looked around the room lazily as he was left alone in her office, having accomplished nothing. Just as he swung back on his chair, he spotted something that was half covered by a sheet of material, and he was intrigued.

* * *

Rebecca walked up the stairs from the workshop to the front door, preparing to greet Ben. She had finished her work on the suit today, having completing numerous tests and a few mishaps, but it was now all packed away. She had managed to create a device similar to one her dad was creating, like a controller in the form of a metal bracelet, but she never got around to testing that one.

"Whoa...you okay?" Ben asked when he seen her standing in front of him.

She had a few developing bruises in her arms and dirt all over her. Usually he would assume she was working on the car, but right now it seemed like she had been in a brawl or something.

"I'm fine." she shrugged. "But I've got a few things I need to finish up downstairs."

"What the hell have you been doing?" he asked as he closed the door behind her.

"Working." she told him, and he knew then that her mind was elsewhere.

Ben hesitated to follow her to the stairs, stopping at the top and contemplating. It was a private area down there, he had already known that, and he didn't want to invade.

"Coming?" she called up.

He took a few steps down the stairs. "Are you sure it's okay for me to come down here?"

Rebecca laughed. "Yeah, but look out there's lasers that might attack if you touch things or break anything." she turned to look at his horrified expression, noticing his feet moving backwards, away from the workshop. "I'm kidding."

"You sure?" he asked again.

"Hey, I'm going in, so if you want to stay out here-"

"No, no," he walked closer. "But...won't your dad get mad that I'm here?"

Rebecca shrugged. "No. Yes. Maybe. Don't know. Don't care."

She had warned Ben of how she became when she didn't finish work. Her mind would be on the job completely until she finished everything and could finally afford to think of other things.

Ben was in awe of the room he walked into. There were pieces of equipment everywhere, not to mention the walls that were lined with Iron Man suits which had almost shocked him into oblivion. Being this close to that sort of technology was an everyday occurrence for Rebecca, but for Ben, he was in a whole other world. He walked around the room simply looking at different things, not dating to touch as he still took Rebecca's warning of lasers seriously.

"This stuff is amazing," he commented, walking around the see the suits and the holographic technology.

"Mhm, it's not bad." she agreed.

Ben looked over to her in suspicion. "What exactly are you doing?"

"Nothing, it's not important," she replied casually. "I just need to get into my dad's system to get a few...codes."

Ben raised his eyebrow in concern. "You sure you're not breaking into his stuff?"

"Hacking." she corrected. "And no, because his password is usually...but it's not working."

"Well maybe that should be your first clue _not_ to hack into it."

"Why are _you_ so worried?"

"If your dad comes home, he's going to meet me down here in his personal workshop hacking into his files." he worried.

"Oh relax." she told him. "I won't be long, and then we can go."

Ben huffed, not agreeing with her tactics to hack into her fathers computer systems, they were locked for a reason. He tried to take his mind off of what she was doing, looking over at the suits again.

"Ah!" she cheered. "I'm in. Told you."

"Whatever," he rolled his eyes. "Just hurry up."

Rebecca clicked into numerous files, opening and scanning information she needed. She took the codes an scribbled them into paper, sliding it into her pocket. Iron Man suit technology, upgrades, ammunition and so on was all loaded into her system, converting the same tech into her suit as was on the others. When she had finished taking what she was looking for, she clicked back to files and saw a folder marked "Palladium Tests". The number of times accessed was incredible, and her curiosity got the best of her as she opened it.

"Whoa," she breathed in shock as she looked at the information that popped up.

Ben hadn't heard her, luckily, and she skillfully analyzed what she was looking at. "Failed" was a word that s noticed a lot, which meant these weren't the simplest of tests to perform. As she clicked further into the files, there were pictures and diagrams that replicated a chest. It had an arc reactor in the middle, and there was no mistaking that it was her father. Veins spread out from the middle, and it looked bad.

"Jarvis, what am I looking at here?" she asked urgently, catching Ben's attention as he wondered who on earth she was talking to.

"I'm sorry, that information is classified."

"Jarvis, do I need to override you on this one?" she asked, and she knew her dad had most likely sworn him to silence. "I'm not asking for classified information. I'm asking what is the issue regarding the palladium?"

Jarvis took a moment to reply, going through the database to see if he was able to give the information. "The issue regarding the palladium is that the power source within the miniaturized arc reactor is no longer being able to sustain the device."

Rebecca couldn't believe her eyes as she looked over the diagram in from of her.

"What's going on?" Ben asked, walking over.

"Hang on," she shook her head, leaning closer to the screen. "Palladium levels increasingly dangerous as time continues..." she began reading to herself, muttering a few words aloud. "...bloodstream...heart...may induce...levels rising...approximate time...life threatening..." she stopped at the last words she read from her father's diagnosis journal and research. "Jarvis, palladium poisoning...what is it?"

"Again, I am not entirely sure I have the authority-"

"Jarvis! Simple question, I'm _not_ asking for personal information, I'm asking for a definition. Now answer me. What is it?"

Ben suddenly realized that whatever she had found, it was not good. She was angry, and he would feel her worry and growing fear in himself as he watched her.

"Essentially, palladium poisoning attacks the bloodstream, making many internal organs slower in activity, and it attacks the nervous system. If left untreated...it is lethal."

Rebecca put all of the facts together. Palladium cores were used in her dad's arc reactor, he needed it to survive, but it was poisoning him. All these tests were his efforts to save himself from that poisoning, desperate to search for elements that could sustain his arc reactor that was keeping him alive.

"My father has palladium poisoning?" she asked.

"Indeed, Miss."

Rebecca looked over all of the research again, scanning the huge amounts of information, wishing she wasn't seeing the results that she was. Failed. Failed. Failed. Condition worsening. Deteriorating. 85% most recent levels. Her mind raced as fast her her heart pounded as she came to the conclusion, still staring at the diagram of her father's condition.

"He's...h-he's...dying."

* * *

**Wow, hope I didn't completely ruin that chapter with that ending...sorry if you didn't like it. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and weren't disappointed with the way I wrote of Rebecca's discovery. I'm still working on how to incorporate this rather huge twist I have in my mind, but I'm currently working on how to do that so hopefully I'll have that sorted to start making things happen. Please review! Really, I love hearing from you guys and your opinion. Thanks for reading! **


	18. Chapter 18

"What do you mean?" Ben asked, still trying to process the words that she had said.

"He's dying." she repeated forcefully. "What _don't_ you understand?"

Ben knew she wasn't meaning to sound rude or angry, but he was only trying to help her. He didn't know what she was talking about since one moment she was looking through the computer and the next she had announced her father's life threatening situation.

"I need to...I need to do something." she chanted to herself, facing back to the computer.

"What?"

"I don't know. Anything!" she shook her head. "This can't be happening. The arc reactor is supposed to keep him alive, there is _no_ way it could kill him. No way."

She sat there for almost twenty minutes, clicking files and running her own tests to observe what exactly they were testing for or searching for. They all returned failed results and only added to the total attempts that Tony had made to try and find a cure for his slowly fading life.

"Why wouldn't he say anything?"

Ben sighed. "Come on, he was probably trying to protect you."

"This isn't protecting me!" she stood up angrily. "What if he died, and I had no idea about what happened? He's dying, and he didn't tell me, his _daughter._"

Rebecca stomped her feet angrily as he couldn't find words to express her feelings. She was angry, hurt, betrayed and most of all, she was scared. Her dad was dying. His days were limited and she didn't know how long he had left considering the research she had found and the unsuccessful attempts to find a possible way out of his predicament.

"What do you want to do?" Ben asked. "I'll drive you to find him, you said you needed to talk."

Rebecca shook her head. "No...I'm sorry, but I need to be alone."

Ben was taken aback at her sudden shift. "You...you want me to go?"

"I don't _want_ you to go, but I need to be alone right now." she explained. "There are things I need to think about, things I need to do. I'm sorry."

Ben nodded understandingly, although he didn't like the idea of leaving her here alone when she was so vulnerable. As little as he knew about her when she was angry, he knew she was a very introverted person, and she needed to be alone to deal with things. It was how she coped, but he didn't like it. Nevertheless, he reluctantly walked over to the door to leave, turning to her as he stopped.

"You don't have to go through everything alone, you know. I am here, you don't have to shut yourself away."

Rebecca didn't respond, instead she focused on keeping her heightened emotions under control as she looked at the ground beneath her feet, avoiding eye contact. Once the door shut and she could no longer hear his footsteps up the stairs, she turned to the screen in front of her and continually read the words in front of her.

_"Palladium levels are quickly rising, blood toxicity is worsening. Current condition: Critical."_

She put her head down on the desk, letting those words sink in. Before she knew it, her chest was heaving as she cried. She was losing her dad, and there seemed to be nothing she or he could do to stop anything from happening.

_'He couldn't be dying, this wasn't supposed to happen.'_ she thought to herself.

It explained so much. His behavior, his general outlook on life or the past few weeks, everything. She cried some more, feeling helpless as the realization set in.

* * *

"Do you think you can do this, or are you a little in edge?" Hammer asked. "Because I need you to focus."

The boy nodded his head, determined. "Believe me, I can do this."

Hammer smiled, pleased with the response. "Excellent." he glanced at his watch. "Well, it seems my previous predictions were wrong, she's not showing up today."

"What now, then?"

"I always have a plan B. Always. For situations like this when I am actually wrong about something. Doesn't happen a lot, but hey."

Justin Hammer walked through the doors and into the huge research and development centre he had set up especially for Ivan Vanko to work in, undetected of course.

"Where is girl?" Ivan asked, looking down from his position above the robotic suits he was working on.

"I'm getting the girl, Ivan." Hammer assured. "But we had a deal, remember? I'm not helping you murder someone here, okay? I still have some rules."

Ivan chuckled. "I do not plan to murder the girl."

"Then why the hell are you making me scheme my way into getting her assistance?" Hammer asked. ''Why couldn't you settle for that damn bird?''

"She know how to make suits, you need her."

"Yes, but I have you." he added. "And _you_ said you could so this. Of course, I would rather her expertise, yes."

"See? You want girl too."

Hammer sighed. "Sure, whatever. Just get these things working. I would rather not start from scratch later on, I need some assurance."

"Don't worry, you will get what you want."

* * *

Tony didn't know how he had gotten the large model city into his convertible, but there it was. He managed to sneak out of the Stark Industries parking lot and speed onto the freeway, ignoring all speed limits once again as he floored it all the way back home. There was something he seen in this model, something he hadn't picked up on any other time he had seen it, if he ever had. Spending so much time searching for elements, there were on his mind all the time and he knew he has found something in this vision.

He pulled the car into the driveway entrance the workshop and stepped out to lift the detailed model and carry it over to the bench. Hopefully he would figure out why his attention was taken by it, but right now he was still thinking to himself about what he had seen. The house was empty, just as he had expected. He thought about heading over to Pepper's apartment to find Rebecca, but if he was going to apologize, he was going to do it right, and that meant he had to tell her everything.

Tony made his way upstairs, walking over to the back area where his glass wall used to be. There was a figure in the corner, and he looked like he was sitting comfortably on a seat. Tony didn't hesitate to find out who it was.

"Mr. Stark," Fury turned as Tony walked closer. "I think we need to talk."

* * *

Pepper pulled her phone from her pocket as she sat in the back of the car as Happy drove. She was worried about Rebecca today ever since her talk with Happy, she was paranoid, and she needed to know she was okay. She disliked her apartment number and waited until the call rung out, reaching the answering machine.

"Hey Bec, don't know if you're there or not, if you are, pick up the phone. If not, well, call me when you get this message okay?"

Happy looked in the revision mirror and could see Pepper's worried expression and he hated that she blamed herself for anything she was upset about.

"She's probably with Ben." he offered, trying to ease her concern.

"Mm, maybe." Pepper thought. "I'll try Tony's-"

"Pepper, honestly, relax." Happy shook his head. "You've got a big day ahead of you, don't make yourself more stressed than you need to be."

Pepper sighed. "You're right."

Still, she couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. She worried even as she out her phone aside, hoping it was start ringing and she would know if everything was okay. There was no one she was taking her mind off of this today, no matter how busy her day was.

* * *

"That thing in your chest is based on unfinished technology." Director Fury told Tony as they sat out on his 'porch'.

"No, it was finished." Tony nodded. "It hadn't been particularly effective until I miniaturized it and put it in my-"

"No, Howard said the arc reactor was the stepping stone to something _greater._" Fury interrupted, intriguing Tony. "He was bout to kick off an energy race that was gonna dwarf the arms race. He was onto something big, something_ so_ big that it was gonna make the nuclear reactor look like a triple-A battery."

"Just him? Or was Anton Vanko in on this, too?" Tony asked, still curious as to the man who held a grudge against his family.

"Anton Vanko is the other side of that coin. Anton saw it as a way to get rich. When your father found out, he had him deported. When the Russians found out he couldn't deliver, they shipped his ass off to Siberia where he spent the next 20 years in a vodka-fuelled rage." he explained. "Not the kind of environment you want to raise a kid in, the son_ you_ had the misfortune of crossing paths with in Monaco."

Tony nodded, finally understanding Vanko's words and previously empty threats, but then his kind moved topics. "You told me I hadn't tried everything. What did you mean I haven't tried everything? What_ haven't_ I tried?"

"He said that you were the only person with the means and knowledge to finish what he started." Fury told him mysteriously.

"He said that?"

"Are you that guy? Are you? Cause if you are, then you can solve the riddle of your heart."

"I don't know where you get your information, but he wasn't my biggest fan." Tony slumped back into his chair.

"What do you remember about your dad?" Fury asked, interested to know where exactly Tony got his impression of who Howard really was.

"He was cold, he was calculating." Tony stated. "He never told me he loved me, he never even told me he _liked_ me, so it's a little tough for me to digest when you're telling me he said the whole future was rising on me and he's passing that down. I don't _get_ that." he sat back further into his chair as he finished his rant. "You're talking about a guy whose happiest day was when he shipped me off to boarding school."

"That's not true." Fury shook his head.

"We'll then clearly you know my dad better than I did."

"As a matter of fact I did." he looked over to Tony. "He was one of the founding members of SHIELD."

"What?"

"I got a 2.00." Fury looked at his watch as a few, assumedly SHIELD, agents came around to them carrying a small trunk of equipment.

"Wait, wait, wait! What's this?" Tony stood up, looking at the trunk.

"You're good, right?"

"No I'm not good."

"You got this, right?"

"Got what? I don't even know what I'm supposed to get." Tony shook his head and rolled his eyes at Fury's ignorance.

"Natasha will remain a floater at Stark with her cover intact. You remember Agent Coulson, right?"

"Yeah," Tony looked over to the familiar man behind Fury.

"And Tony, remember, I got my_ eye_ on you."

Tony looked back at Fury was a confused expression. He didn't know what Fury thought he was up to, and really didn't care as he was more interested in the box labeled '_Property of H. Stark._'

"We've disabled all communications. No contact with the outside world. Good luck." Natasha informed him professionally.

Tony would never grow accustomed to seeing 'Ms. Rushman' wearing her skin right suit and vein addressed to as Agent Romanoff, but that really wasn't his priority right now.

"Please." he looked to Agent Coulson. "First thing, I need a little bodywork. I put in a little time in the lab. If we could send one if your goon squad down to The Coffee Bean-"

"I'm not here for that." Coulson shook his head, although keeping a polite stance. "I've been authorized by director Fury to use any means necessary to keep you on premises. If you attempt to leave, or play any games, I will tase you and watch Supernanny while you drool into the carpet. Okay?" he threatened.

"I think I got it, yeah." Tony nodded, understanding Coulson's orders.

"Enjoy your evenings entertainment."

As Agent Coulson walked away, Tony's eyes drifted back to the box on the ground. He had a lot of work to do, but he needed to know what he was dealing with first.

* * *

Hammer walked into the holding area of the military base, happier than he had been in a few days. Finally, some things were working out for him. Colonel Rhodes had delivered one of the Iron Man suit to the base after he had flown from Tony's chaotic party the other night, and they had planned to hand it over to Hammer in return for some weaponry. Hammer's phone began ringing in his pocket and he took a moment to answer it.

''What are you doing?'' he asked angrily. ''You _know_ what you're supposed to be doing.''

''I'm following now.'' The boy told him. ''But I need to know you're going to fulfil your half of this deal.''

Hammer sighed. ''We've talked about this. You help me, I'll give you want you want.''

''I get it, but you need to promise me what I asked for.'' The boy told him. ''I'm not talking the fall for this.''

''I told you, you'll be safe. Iron Man will be _nothing_ when I'm finished with this project, you've got nothing to be afraid of.''

''This is his _daughter_, he's going to come for her.''

''He won't.'' Hammer assured. ''Just follow the plan, I'm busy.''

Hammer slammed his phone shut and hurried behind the guards he was following.

Rhodey didn't like that he was basically betraying everything that Tony didn't want him to do, but Tony was not himself lately and this needed to be done. The government would lay off him a lot more now that Justin Hammer was in charge of one of the suits.

''Yes, yes, yes!'' Hammer cheered as he made his way over to Rhodey and the suit. ''Is today my birthday? Wow!''

Rhodey almost immediately regret this decision as Hammer finally made it over to the suit and began staring at the technology he was now going to be in charge of. He needed to do this though, for Tony. As much as he knew Tony would be against this whole thing, this was the only way to fix what Tony had done and take pressure off him.

''I need to know what you're going to do for us.'' Rhodey told him.

Hammer looked up away from the suit. ''What am I going to _do_ for you?'' he asked. ''Well, firstly, I'm gonna upgrade all your software-''

''Hammer,'' Rhodey interrupted. ''I'm talking about firepower.''

Hammer grinned. ''Well, you're talking to the right guy.''

* * *

Rebecca was currently sitting in the back of a cab, heading toward the city but with no idea of where she was really going.

"Where did you say?" The cab driver asked.

Rebecca couldn't think of anywhere she wanted to be at the moment. She couldn't go to Stark Industries because she couldn't bare to face Pepper, and she was still way too upset to confront her father, which is why she left the house to begin with.

"Here. Just let me out here." she answered.

Rebecca stepped out of the car after tossing a bill through to the driver. Now, she planned to walk the streets and search for some sort of answer to what she was doing. Her dad was dying, she was going to be left completely alone in this world. He'd been there for her through everything and he always fixed anything that she couldn't, and now he needed something to be fixed, and she couldn't do anything about it. Palladium poisoning, it was so unexpected.

Rebecca found herself wandering up through the backstreets of the city, enjoying the feelings of being able to walk anywhere and not be bothered for once. Probably because of her appearance at the moment, she still hand changed since working on stuff back at the house.

"Hello?" she answered her phone.

"Bec?" Pepper's worried voice was on the other end. "Where are you?"

Rebecca cursed herself for not checking her caller I.D to avoid this situation. "I'm...nowhere important, why?"

"I'm just worried. I know you're not at the apartment, and you're not at Stark Industries, and you're not-"

"I'm just out, it's no big deal. But, I'm actually a little busy, okay? I'll call you later." Rebecca excused.

"Bec-"

"I'm sorry Pepper." she spoke briefly before ending the call.

She felt horrible for hanging up on Pepper when she knew she was only concerning for her, but she couldn't talk to her right now. He felt guilty just knowing about her dad's condition, and pretending that nothing was wrong when she spoke to Pepper was something she just couldn't do.

Her phone began vibrating again, and she instantly answered when she saw the number.

"You're with Pepper, aren't you?" she spoke.

"No, why?" Ben asked.

"Never mind."

"Where are you?" he worried. "I don't like you being alone when you're dealing with this."

Rebecca sighed. "Why does everyone want to know where I am? I'm fine. I just need to be alone."

She absentmindedly turned down another unfamiliar street, headed deeper into the city, trying to get away.

"I'm just worried."

"Well don't be, I promise that I'm fine." she told him. "I'll call you when I get back to Pepper's, okay?"

"Good." he told her happily. "You better."

Rebecca slid her phone into her back pocket and looked around. Where was she? She didn't care. She just wanted to keep walking, hopefully clearing her mind as she continued. She swore aloud when her phone vibrated again, and she yanked it from her pocket and angrily spoke into it.

"I said I'm_ fine_ Ben, please-"

"I'm not your boyfriend." A voice spoke back to her and she slowed her walking pace out of shock.

"Who is this?" she interrogated.

"Consider me jealous."

Rebecca slowed again. "How did you get this number, asshole!"

The voice laughed. "Aw, don't get mad! There's no need for that."

"Right. Well, what do you want?

"You're always getting yourself into trouble Bec. Always. Guess some things never change, do they?"

The voice was slightly familiar, but Rebecca couldn't pinpoint who it was, and so she was useless in helping herself.

"Yeah, poor old me huh. So, game enough to tell me who you are yet?" she asked.

"Hmm, no. Shouldn't walk alone through the lonely old backstreets Bec. I tell you what - why don't you look for yourself?"

Rebecca heard a rough noise behind her of scuffling feet and she turned quickly to see who was the mysterious voice. She almost let out a shriek, but it was pointless. She was in empty streets, no one else around, and she immediately regret everything that led up to this moment. She had been waiting for the day she would see the person who stood before her again. She had imagined it, imagined getting her revenge and finally knowing they weren't free anymore. She looked into their eyes, hoping to seem a lot braver and fearless than she felt.

"Long time, no see." he spoke with a growing smirk.

Rebecca steadied her breathing before speaking. "Lucas..."

* * *

**Wow, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. You can expect some more action based stuff next chapter as well as other stuff. I'm still considering this twist I have in my mind...we'll see how it goes, I don't really want to confuse you all with this idea I've got...I guess I'll be thinking about it for a while before I decide. Anyway, _please review_! Thanks for reading. **


	19. Chapter 19

Rebecca was still in shock as she stood on the path of the empty street. Lucas was standing in front of her, grinning at her horror, and waiting for her to speak up. She couldn't though, she could barely process what was happening. She knew she was in trouble, big trouble, and this wasn't going to end well. Every since that night all those months ago, she had wondered where he was and how he managed to just get away. But it was clear now that he never actually left, he was hiding.

"What the _hell_ do you want?" she asked angrily.

Lucas smiled. "Nice to see you too."

Rebecca was in no mood for his little games. Whatever he was planning to do, she just wished he would hurry up and get it over with because at the moment she was lost on how to escape this situation.

"How are you, by the way?" he asked, pretending to seem concerned. "I heard you weren't doing so well after all that drama with Stane." Rebecca bit her lip, her anger growing. "What was the story again? The one you told all the reporters so you wouldn't have to tell them that your dad killed him."

"He didn't kill him!" Rebecca defended. "Obadiah took himself down, no one asked for him to die."

"I really don't care about Stane." Lucas rolled his eyes. "He got what was coming to him, I'll give you that. I'm glad he's gone."

Rebecca was confused. "Then why are you here? It's obviously not for vengeance, you couldn't care less."

"No, it's not." Lucas told her. "But I do what I have to do to get what I want."

"And how does that involve me?" she asked, trying to buy time to think of an escape.

"For some reason Bec, you take a_ lot_ of people's interest. It's probably the fact that your dad has taken so much away from other people, and now they want to take something away from him." Lucas explained. "But you'll always be the leverage, the bargain and the bait."

Rebecca wasn't offended by this, she thought the same thing. She was always the one that people used against her father, she was always the helpless one, but not anymore, she'd change that.

"So what's it this time?" she asked him, folding her arms in front of her. "Who wants me dead?"

"I can't tell you that." he chuckled. "God, that would ruin everything. Have you no understanding of a surprise?"

"I'm not one for surprises." she told him, and her mind immediately went back to Ben, and she felt a tinge of guilt and worry rise up inside her.

"You don't have a choice." he told her.

Lucas moved forward, and Rebecca stepped back swiftly. She knew what he was doing, and she wasn't going to make it so easy for him.

"You know, I could always do this the old fashioned way with some chloroform." he suggested. "You remember that, right?"

"I'm not going with you." she spat.

"No? There's a car nearby with assigned bodyguards who would have no problem with helping me out." he threatened.

"You always think you've got the edge, don't you?" she stepped back again. "They're only using you. Then you'll be tossed aside and used as bait yourself."

Lucas was losing patience. "This doesn't have to be difficult."

"You're right, it doesn't." she agreed. "So I'd give up if I were you."

Lucas almost chuckled at her 'tough' approach to the whole situation, but he was given orders, and he needed to follow them. He lunged forward and grabbed her arms, trying to hook a pair of handcuffs onto her wrists. Coming along the street was the car he was talking about, and he no longer worried knowing that he had the back up he was waiting for. Rebecca struggled against his grip, throwing her arms around and hitting him in his jaw. Using this momentum, she took off running down the street in search of an exit back to the main roads. All she found, however, was more and more suspicious looking streets and smaller alleys that didn't end. She could hear Lucas close behind her, and it only pushed her to go faster. The alleys turned into more alleys, and she continued into more and more narrow paths, trying to escape. When she looked up there was nothing but blank, brick walls that surrounded her, and nothing to help her out.

She ran faster, trying to put distance between her and Lucas, but she felt like she wasn't getting anywhere. She pulled her phone from her pocket and quickly dialed her dad's number. Rebecca prayed he would answer as she co tinged running with no direction. He could help her, somehow.

_"Communication currently disabled."_

Rebecca let out a frustrated shriek, unable to believe the luck she was having. Never has communication at her house been disabled, and now when she needed to get in contact with her dad the most, she couldn't.

Finally, she made it to a road, but her relief was short lived when the same black car came speeding down the street and stopped in front of her. She halted in her tracks and immediately debated what to do. Lucas came from behind her then, trying to grab her arms again.

"Get her!" One man yelled from the car.

Lucas cursed and then took off again as Rebecca ran in the opposite direction. She was scared. She knew she had nowhere to go and yet there was no way she'd give up so easily. Lucas grew closer and closer as he was clearly faster than she was on a straight run as opposed to the alleys, and he soon made contact with her, knocking her to the ground. Her head hit the concrete with force, and her vision became blurry as she tried to come back from the impact.

"Get the car over here!" Lucas yelled as he grabbed her wrists and cuffed them in front of her.

"Let me go!"

Rebecca tried to scream, to alert anyone that was near, but her voice came out mumbled and she was soon thrown into the back of the car.

* * *

_'Arc reactor. H. Stark - A. Vanko.'_

Tony pulled out the prints and plans that were inside the trunk that belonged to his father. He was sitting in his workshop, and nothing was making sense to him. Nick Fury had told him that his father believed Tony was the only one who could fulfill the arc reactor's potential and solve 'the riddle' of his heart, but there was no way there could be anything in here that he needed. Down near the bottom of the trunk which was full of plans and sketches and a journal of Howard's work. There was nothing about the arc reactor in this case that he didn't already know, but he continued anyway until he discovered a few film reels. Tony was not a nostalgic person, not for himself anyway, but his curiosity led him to play the reels, wondering what they contained.

He prepared the projects and then sat down in his seat, sipping a glass of scotch as he read through the journal he found, glancing at the work his father was doing before the film began.

_"_Everything is achievable through technology." Howard Stark's voice filled the room, taking Tony back many years ago. "Everything you'll need for the future can be found right here."

Tony knew this speech almost off by heart. He'd heard it so many time and it was played at all of the Stark Industries events, it was annoying to him now. He continued flipping the pages of the journal, finding nothing he hadn't already known about before. Nick Fury must have been wrong, there was nothing here.

"Tony, what are you doing back there?" Tony's head snapped back to the screen at the voice of his father calling him. A young boy stood behind the Stark Expo model holding up one of it's parts as an unimpressed Howard caught him. _"_What is that? Where's your mother? Maria?"

Tony sat back into his chair, forgetting the small moment he'd witnessed between him and his father. When put together with Tony's words that his father didn't like him along with this video, it was proof that there was that element in their relationship. That Tony was simply in the way and Howard didn't like him. He groaned and pulled his glass of scorch back to his lips, letting this liquid flow into his mouth.

"Tony? You're too young to understand this right now, so I thought I would put it on film." Howard's voice began again, and it took all of Tony's attention back. "I built this for you. And someday you'll realize that it represents a whole lot more than his people's inventions. It represents my life's work. This is the key to the future." Tony then saw it. What he had been thinking about, and what he had seen in the Expo model. It was beginning to make sense. "I'm limited by the technology of my time, but one day you'll figure this out. And when you do, you will change the world. What is and always will be my greatest creation, is _you_."

Tony continued watching the screen even when the reel stopped. The words that his father had just said were still processing in his mind. Howard believed in him, he believed in his ability so much that he had faith Tony would change the world.

_"...my greatest creation, is you."_

The words rang through Tony's head repeatedly as he stared over at the Expo model, thinking to himself about what it all meant, and then it clicked.

_"...you can solve the riddle of your heart."_

_"...everything you need for the future can be found right here."_

A new element.

* * *

_"Call cannot be connected."_

Ben closed his eyes with frustration and threw his phone onto the passenger seat of his car with force. He was parked outside of Pepper's apartment after standing outside her door for ten minutes knocking, waiting for Rebecca to answer. He was getting worried, he had no idea where she was or what she was doing. She wasn't in the right mindset to end left alone, she had just discovered her dad was dying and was keeping it from her. He couldn't help feel guilty for leaving her on her own, and now he didn't know what to do. He didn't know how to get into contact with Tony since the house was empty earlier and the phone connections weren't working. He couldn't go to Pepper, it wasn't his place to explain the situation about Tony to her. He debated with himself over how to approach the situation, and then he worked on his explanation without involving the drama with Tony, but he was still nervous about going to Pepper. Ben didn't want to be a nervous wreck or give off the vibe he was a controlling boyfriend, but he was worried, and he needed assurance from someone that Rebecca was okay.

Ben drove a little faster than he should have to Stark Industries, his anxiety taking over. There were camera crews everywhere, but they paid no attention to the average boy as he walked up the stairs until he reached the top when a reporter called out, "Isn't that Rebecca Stark's boyfriend?", and then there was no chance for anyone to respond since he slipped inside the doors quickly.

"May I help you?" The main secretary asked when he reached the top level, ignoring the confused looks he got from the workers.

Ben immediately became nervous. "Uh, yeah hi, I need to speak with Ms. Potts."

The secretary nodded. "Appointment?" Ben shook his head. "Honey, you can't speak to the CEO of the company without an appointment."

"I know, this was unexpected though." he explained. "I need to talk to her about...a personal matter."

"I'm sorry, but you need Ms. Potts confirmation before you can see her."

Ben was having a terrible day. Pepper must've been one busy woman for him to have to talk his way into just seeing her.

"Can you phone her?" he asked. "If you'll just tell her who I am, this is important."

The secretary looked at him suspiciously. "Are you reporter?" she asked with a firm tone. "Did they send you in to get a few words?"

"No, no! I swear." Ben shook his head. "Listen, I really need to talk to Ms. Potts. If you could just please phone her and tell her my name I'm sure-"

"What is your name?" she asked, picking up the phone.

"Ben White."

"Let's see then." The woman waited until their was an answer on the other line and eyed the boy in front of her suspiciously. "Sorry for the interruption, Ms. Potts, but you have a so-called visitor out here by the name of Ben White who-" The woman stopped, listening to the reply. "Uh, of course Ms. Potts." she put the phone down and looked over to Ben. "You can make your way into Ms. Potts' office now."

Ben smiled. "Thank you."

He has need actually been in Stark Industries before, except for what he managed to see on new reports, and now he was heading into the CEO's office. Pepper sat behind her desk professionally, awaiting her visitor, in her spacious office. Ben gave her a warm smile before heading over to her.

"Ben," she smiled welcomingly. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?"

"Are you really busy?" he asked. "I don't want to take your time."

"I've got time for you." she assured him. "Is there something wrong?"

Ben but his lip nervously. "I'm not sure. I don't want to worry you or overreact, but I haven't heard from Rebecca in a while. Last I heard from her, she was heading back to your apartment which would've took ten minutes, and she told me she'd call when she got there."

Pepper was instantly worried when Ben said he hadn't heard from her, she knew something was wrong. She assumed Rebecca didn't want to talk to either Pepper or Tony about anything, but now she wasn't answering Ben, and that was a sign in itself that something was wrong.

"And you haven't heard from her since?"

Ben shook his head sadly. "I went over to your apartment as well...no one was home."

Pepper couldn't understand why Rebecca would just shut them out like that. "Wait, did something happen before all of this?"

Ben felt his heart best faster out of fear of telling her what happened. It wasn't his place, it wasn't his secret to tell, and he hated lying, but he couldn't tell her.

"No." Ben lied. "I left the house because she was busy, but I haven't seen her since."

Pepper picked up the phone. "I'm calling Tony."

She waited for someone to answer, but instead it was just a dead line, connection unavailable. Jarvis must have shut everything down for some reason, but this didn't help their case for finding Rebecca.

"Listen, I didn't want to worry you, you've got enough to deal with, I just wasn't sure if this was...weird."

Pepper sighed. "It is weird. I've been noticing things about her lately, the way she acts is different. I don't know where she would be, I don't know what's going on lately."

Ben nodded in understanding. "I'll keep looking for her, I know a few places she could be. If anything changes, I'll call you. Sorry, the last thing I wanted was to worry you when I'm not even sure what's going on."

"No," Pepper shook her head. "No, I'm glad you told me, thank you. I'll let Happy know, just to stay in alert from her."

"Okay," Ben stood up and headed toward the door. "I'll call you."

* * *

Tony was standing by the Stark Expo model and was analyzing what he had seen earlier. It held information he needed, and he wasn't going to get it by standing here staring at it. He needed to pull it apart.

"Jarvis, scan it. I need a manipulatable projection."

"1974 Stark Expo model scan complete, sir." Jarvis informed him a few moments later.

Tony moved the projection to the side, hoping to get a better view and understanding of what he was looking at. It was confusing, even for Tony, but his mind processed the information quickly as he folded his arms, staring at the model's projection.

"What does that look like to you Jarvis?" he asked thoughtfully. "Not unlike an atom. In which case the nucleus would be...here." his fingers pointed at the small image. "Highlight the unisphere."

"What is it you're trying to achieve, sir?" Jarvis asked.

"I'm discovering...correction, _re_discovering a new element."

Tony continued staring and moving things about, the image becoming clearer and his hopes growing that this was actually real and he might have a shot at this idea. Fury might have been right but he had a long way to go yet.

"Structure the protons and the neutrons using the pavilions as a framework."

Tony waited until Jarvis performed the command and then he studied it further. As his mind collected the information and broke down why he needed to know, his hands formed a ball and then he expanded his arms quickly, zooming into the projection, finding himself surrounded by the inner workings of the element. There it was before him, rediscovered. A new element. His eyes widened in amazement and complete astonishment that all of this had actually worked. Tony picked up the small element, studying the projection as he held it inches from his face.

"Dead for almost twenty years, and still taking me to school." he commented with a smile.

"The proposed element should serve as a viable replacement for palladium."

"Thanks, dad." he spoke quietly to himself.

"Unfortunately it is impossible to synthesise." Jarvis informed him.

Tony smirked, nodding at Jarvis's warning. When was anything impossible for Tony Stark? It would be difficult, certainly, but this was his ticket to life, and he sure as hell wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to make it.

"Get ready for a major remodel, fells. We're back in hardware mode."

* * *

**Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and that it wasn't slow or anything. There'll be more action based stuff from now on as the story progresses, I promise, and maybe a few more surprises seeing how I go with incorporating everything. Please review! Thanks for reading!**

**Oh, and also, for those of you who read my one-shot series 'Being A Stark' or are interested in doing so, I updated not long ago if you'd like to read it. Thanks!**


	20. Chapter 20

Rebecca groaned as she moved about on the hard surface of the concrete floor, her back aching from the uncomfortable position. Her head was spinning, and she could feel a strings headache coming on. As her eyes opened to reveal an unfamiliar room, she panicked as to where she was. The last thing she remembered was kicking and shoving against Lucas as he called for the car, just before he faded into unconsciousness due to her heavy impact between her head and the pavement.

"Your grandfather was a very intelligent man." she heard a deep voice speak from in the room, speaking with a thick accent. "As was my father, Anton Vanko. They worked together, they built together, they were geniuses. But, then one day my father is deported back to Russia, he was betrayed."

Rebecca searched for the voice, sitting back in shock as she discovered who it was. "Y-you're supposed to be dead."

"I was." he nodded. "I was a dead man."

Rebecca shook her head in disbelief. "No...the explosion. They found your body."

"They found a body, it was not mine." Ivan explained. "I live now, more alive than I have been in a long time."

"I-I don't understand." she rubbed her head, feeling a growing lump where she had hit the ground. "You can't be...how?"

"Justin Hammer has been quite a friend to me." Ivan told her happily. "But he is not intelligent, he is an arrogant man, however, I choose life over death."

"Hammer helped you escape..." Rebecca realized, now seeing the motive behind everything Hammer was doing. "To build suits for him?"

Ivan shrugged. "It's easy to humor the lesser minds."

Everything he was saying only confused her even more. "So, they're not suits?"

"No."

"Then...what are they?"

"You will see soon enough." Ivan told her with a threatening tone. "And so will your father."

Rebecca sensed something horrible happening, as if this wasn't bad enough. Ivan had a grudge against Tony and his family, including Rebecca herself, but she didn't know what he interned on doing about any of it. He was supposed to be dead, this part of their worries was supposed to be over, and for a long time none of them spoke of Vanko, but now here he was.

"What are you doing?" she asked him, remaining in her secure position against the wall, her back pressed up against it as if she would be safer by doing so.

"I have thought about the day I could make your family pay for what they did to mine for many years." he explained. "I have worked on how I would do it, and I have created a force more powerful than your father and his suit. It wasn't only Howard Stark who worked on the arc reactor, my father did too, and from him I have learnt all I need to have my revenge."

Rebecca was terrified of this man she was looking at. "Why?"

"For over forty years my family has suffered because of your family's betrayal. It is only fair that I return the gesture." he explained with a smirk. "My first plans were focused on your father, the last remaining Stark, the man who got the fame and the glory that _my family _was entitled to. He grew up with everything I was to have, and he used my father's technology to keep himself alive, pretending to be hero. I hated him, I want to _kill_ him. And then, I hear he has a child, a daughter, an heir to carry on the legacy. That's when my plans changed." Rebecca listened in closely to his explanation of his actions, wondering why he was telling her this instead of just killing her as he was suggesting. "You changed things. The name 'Stark' would no longer die with your father. Instead, you would be to carry the name, you would be the last Stark. I now had two targets."

Rebecca shook her head. "I was just a kid, and you wanted...t-to kill me?"

"I wanted your family to be non-existent. To rid the world of the name Stark as it should be, and it will be."

* * *

Tony's house was destroyed. Not only was the damage from his birthday party still present, but now the rooms had holes going through the walls and holes in the floor with cables running everywhere to a huge pipe that was taking up the space in his workshop now. Sledge hammering through concrete and drilling holes in his renovated floors meant very little to him, the idea of his chance of survival far outweighed all of those concerns. He had been working all afternoon on synthesizing the new element he had found, refusing to give up.

After all of his 'remodeling' in order to fit what he needed to synthesize the element, it was only a matter of perfecting the location of the surge of energy in order to have the element in a useable form, trying desperately not to let this plan fail after it was his only hope.

Finally, after hours of working and making sure everything was just right, the new element was created. The blue glow of the triangle was confirmation that he had succeeded. He let out a long, exhausted breath and hung his head to revel in the fact that he had done it. He managed to pull this off in hours, everything going to plan, which he wasn't used to.

"Jarvis," he called out as he placed the new element in the arc reactor core. "Begin diagnostics and all relatable tests, I want a reading on this thing and I want all potential scans. This is it."

* * *

Ben had driven around countless streets and areas as he searched for Rebecca. Something wasn't right and he knew it, something bad was happening. He stopped once more and tried calling her number, but it was no use.

_"Call cannot be connected."_

Where was she? She would never run off and leave everyone worrying over her like this, that was the last thing she wanted.

Ben's worries grew and grew as he searched, finding himself driving down the road to Tony Stark's mansion in hopes he could find her or at least know she was alright. If she wasn't here, he would then be officially concerned. He even checked the lake and the boardwalk, but everything was empty. He turned the ignition off, just staring blankly at the door. He didn't know what to say, they hadn't officially met yet and Ben couldn't didn't know if Tony remembered talking to him the other night, but he needed to confront him about what was going on and hopefully find some answers to ease his concerns.

"Sir, Ben White is approaching the main door." Jarvis informed.

Tony took his hands away from the keyboard and looked around the room at the mess and destruction he had created in the afternoon. He was still waiting for the tests on the new element to see if it was safe enough to use in his arc reactor.

Tony stood up and walked to the door of the workshop, hurrying upstairs to the front door. He was dressed in a robe after cleaning himself up from the afternoon's work, but he figured it was much better than the state he was in when Ben first seen him the other night, drunk. He opened the door just as Ben was about to knock, meeting the boy's blank expression.

"Uh, hello Mr. Stark."

"Ben," he stood back, gesturing for him to come inside the cluttered house. "Nice to see you again."

"You remember?"

"I remember you, yeah." he nodded. "Protecting Rebecca when I was...not thinking straight. You got her out of the way and you kept her safe."

Tony owed this boy a lot for what he had done that night, Rebecca could've been hurt or worse, and he put himself in danger to protect her.

"Well, I care about her." Ben told him. "A lot."

The way he spoke with such seriousness made Tony sure that Ben was a good guy. He put Rebecca first and he genuinely cared about her. Tony was always protective of his daughter when it came to boys and dating, and it was furthered when she met Lucas, but he felt Ben was different. He could respect him, and he could trust him, but only to an extent, he wasn't an easy man to win over.

"Good, because if you ever hurt her, you'll deal with me." Tony smiled at him to ease his words, but he needed to know that Ben took his seriously.

Ben nodded and smiled as well, but he was slightly annoyed at Tony's remark since he had been comforting Rebecca this entire time when it was Tony who had hurt her. "With all respect Mr. Stark, _I've_ actually been the one there for her for the past few days."

Tony liked that Ben wasn't afraid to defend himself to Tony, he stood up for himself. "True," he nodded. "But don't ever think I care any less about her because of what I did, and don't think I'm not serious when I say you will deal with me if you ever cause her pain or sadness."

Ben kept his eye contact with the man that stood taller than him, absorbing his words, surprised by the amount of courage he had at that moment. "I understand and respect you Mr. Stark, but I would _never_ hurt her."

"Then we have no problem." he concluded with a friendly smile.

"Actually, I have something-"

"Sir," Jarvis interrupted. "There has been a minor issue identifying the test subject as it not recognized."

Tony rolled his eyes. "That's the whole point of the test, Jarvis. To _recognize_ it."

"Of course sir, however confirmation is needed."

Tony glanced back to Ben who seemed very confused by what he had just heard. He couldn't even imagine what Ben thought his 'test subject' was.

"Can't rely on technology." Tony muttered under his breath as he walked toward the stairs.

Ben wasn't sure if he should follow, Tony's attention had been completely taken by whatever tests he was running and he had just walked off at Jarvis's words. Ben took a few cautious steps toward the stairs, hesitating on walking down them.

"May I remind you technology is keeping you alive, sir?" Jarvis responded.

"Yeah, yeah. Just get this thing going again, can't afford to lose time."

Ben managed to make his way down the stairs at a slow pace, making it to the workshop door that was left open. He didn't know if Tony knew he was there and wanted privacy, but Ben's attention was then drawn to the absolute destruction in the room. Walls were blown out and hammered, the roof had holes in it with cables running everywhere and there were shelves lined across the wall that were cut in half as if a laser had attacked them. Whatever Tony was working on down here, it was powerful.

"Don't worry, I'm working on a renovation." Tony spoke without looking at Ben, his eyes glued to the computer screen as he initialized the tests again.

"Uh, what _is_ all of this?"

"Just a bit of upgrading."

"A _bit_?"

"Well, it was just _one_ upgrade, but it was a lot of work."

Ben remembered his reason for visiting, and he needed to tell Tony what was going on now before he became sidetracked even more, he just didn't want to. He didn't want to start something that might not be anything all because of his worrying, but he knew that if he didn't and something bad did happen, he would never forgive himself.

"Mr. Stark-"

"Just call me Tony." he told him. "I hate being called 'Mr. Stark' in my own home."

"Okay, Tony," Ben corrected himself. "I really need to talk to you."

Tony turned in his seat, catching the tone of voice Ben was using. "Then talk.''

Ben swallowed. "It's uh, it's Rebecca, I thought she might've been here but she's not and now I'm officially worried. Her calls won't connect, Ms. Potts hasn't heard from her since this morning, and I don't know what to do, I don't know where she is."

Tony took in every word Ben said, trying to piece together the situation. He was instantly worried and thinking of all the possible scenarios, but his main focus was finding her, and he needed all the information he could get.

"When's the last time you heard from her?" Tony asked seriously.

"Hours ago. I called her and she said she was on her way to Pepper's apartment and that she would be there in ten minutes and she would call me when she got there." he explained. "But...she didn't call, and I went over, no one was there."

"Where was she when you called?" Tony hurried over to his other computer and set up the tracking device that was fitted into Rebecca's phone.

"I don't know, she was walking, I think." Ben thought to himself. "We were here this morning, and then I left and-"

"Wait, you were both here earlier?"

Ben then remembered. "Uh, yeah, she needed to get some of her things."

"Why didn't _you_ take her to Pepper's?" Tony interrogated.

"I-I don't know." Ben told him nervously. "I didn't think about that."

Tony wasn't in the mood to be lied to, and he knew Ben wasn't telling him the truth. He could tell by his mannerisms, his expression changing to nervous little twitches as he thought before speaking.

"Would've thought with you being here and all, she would've left with you." Tony countered.

Ben then changed his attitude, trying to cover up. "What's this got to do with finding her?"

"The fact you're lying to me and I'd like to know why." Tony spoke firmly.

Ben didn't want to tell him what he and Rebecca had found. He didn't want to be the one to tell him that his daughter knew that he was dying. All day he'd been lying. He lied to Pepper about it, but Tony knew he was trying to cover something up and it wasn't working.

"It doesn't matter, she wanted to be alone." Ben told him honestly.

Tony stood up quickly, walking over to him. "Something happened and I want to know. If that was the_ last_ time you saw her, I _need_ to know what happened so I can find her."

"It's not my place to tell you." he spoke calmly although Tony was obviously angry at him, and his response only pushed the man further to discovering what happened.

"Okay, now you're just pissing me off." Tony lowered his voice, but it was just as furious. "This is my daughter, and if you care as much you say, you'll tell me exactly what happened so I can find her and make sure she's okay."

Ben paused for a moment, having a mental debate with himself. He wanted to find Rebecca, and he couldn't let his morality stand in the way of her safety. He didn't want to tell Tony, but he needed to, because he cared. He cared more than anything.

"She found your files." he confessed. "She knows about the poisoning and that you're dying." Tony stopped his yelling as the shock hit him. He wasn't expecting this, he didn't want her to find out like that. Ben could tell there were a million questions on Tony's mind, so he worked on explaining to him. "She said she was looking for codes for something, and she found a file that had tests in it and she found out. She was upset that you didn't tell her and that you would've died without her knowing, without her being able to understand and be with you, and she just shut down, didn't want me here, wanted to be alone."

Tony walked away from him, running his hands through his hair as he tried to process what happened. He wanted to explain to her why he didn't tell her, that he would never leave her without giving up and that he fixed it, but he needed to find her. Then, as he was replaying Ben's words in his head, he caught onto something.

"Codes?" he turned back to him. "She went through my files for _codes_? What was she doing?"

* * *

Rebecca was still in the same spot on the concrete floor as Ivan worked on one of the pieces for his 'suits'. They both remained in silence for a while, Rebecca thinking to herself as Ivan kept a close eye on her.

With her head pounding from her possible, yet very likely concussion, and her eyes closed as she leaned against the wall, the door to the room opened up.

"How are we doing?" Hammer smiled cheerfully. "Look at you Ivan, so committed to your work. Remember we need those suits done quickly." Then his eyes veered over to Rebecca. "You look tired. I think you might have a concussion. Hmm, yeah, you might want to get that looked at."

Rebecca glared at him. "You have no idea what you've gotten yourself into."

Hammer pulled his hand up in front of his mouth in a mocking portrayal of fear. "Oh, dear. Don't tell me that's a threat, little Stark. Are you forgetting that you're here all by yourself? Daddy can't help you now sweetheart."

Rebecca let out a slight chuckle. "You need to stop underestimating me."

"Prove me wrong and I will." he shrugged arrogantly. "Well, if you'll excuse me I have a pre-celebration to get to. Enjoy your visit. Until then, I'll leave your supervision in the capable hands of young Lucas here, who I'm sure you remember. Bye now."

Rebecca continued glaring at Hammer as he closed the door behind him. As the door slammed shut, Rebecca could see Lucas standing behind the door through the glass window in the centre, and he didn't look sympathetic at all. Instead he turned his back and ignored her.

Ivan then finally stopped his work and walked over to a small briefcase he had in the corner. As he lifted it onto the desk, Rebecca could see what it contained. The same weapon he used at Monaco, the same blue glow and the same terrifying noise. They were whips, and they were powered by an arc reactor providing it with electricity.

"What are you doing?" she asked, watching as he powered up the weapons and marveled at their potential.

"Putting my plan into motion." he answered. "But first, I use the bait to lure my prey."

Ivan walked back over to the table and grabbed the phone, pulling a number from his pocket and dialing. Rebecca feared the worst because she knew that she herself was the bait to be used, and she knew what he was doing as much as she convinced herself otherwise.

"Hey, Tony," Ivan smiled and Rebecca eyes went wide with fear. "How you doing?"

* * *

**Okay, I apologize, I'm really not a fan of this chapter, I don't like it and I think I could've done better. I hope you enjoyed it, however, but I'm just very self-critical and just ignore this rambling, ugh, sorry. I'm going to try and get some more chapters up quicker, but as Christmas approaches things start getting busier and my time management is crazy. Hopefully I'll have more up soon as I usually update rather quickly. Please review and let me know what you think, I really appreciate hearing from you all even if it's a simple indicator of your opinion. Thanks for reading!**

**_Note_ - Any readers who follow my one-shot series 'Being A Stark', I'm currently in the middle of writing the Christmas chapter(s) and will update as soon a possible, I'm just trying to make them as enjoyable as possible to read. Thanks. **


	21. Chapter 21

Tony was inputting codes and tracking authorization numbers into his computer with Ben watching on behind him when Jarvis interrupted. They'd been trying to get a reading on Rebecca's cell phone for a while now and were having no luck, it was disconnected completely, which wasn't a good sign.

"Incoming call from a blocked number sir." Jarvis told him.

Tony then remembered that his own phone lines had been disconnected until now. "Phone privilege is reinstated. Lovely." he answered the call, assuming it would be Agent Coulson checking up on him since he had to leave. "Coulson, how's the Land of Enchantment?"

Instead, another voice answered. One he didn't think he would hear again. "Hey, Tony, how you doing?" It was Ivan Vanko. "I double cycle."

Tony couldn't believe his own ears. This man was supposed to be dead. The man who tried to kill him at Monaco and has a vendetta against his family name. Ben looked confused at Tony's mixed expression of anger and fear, but he soon figured this person wasn't a friend.

"You what?" Tony asked, confused.

"You told me double cycles more power." Ivan told him, referring to his weapon of choice that was powered by his own arc reactor. "Good advice."

Rebecca watched as Ivan spoke to her father with a grin on his face, knowing he was winning whatever game he was playing. She wanted to get up and snatch the phone from him, tell Tony where she was and get the hell out of here, but things weren't so simple.

"You sound pretty sprightly for a dead guy." Tony pressed a button on the screen monitor to track the call.

"You too." Ivan retorted, a direct hit at the fact he knew Tony was dying. "Now, the true history of Stark name with be written."

"Jarvis, where is he?" Tony asked quietly, watching the tracking take progress.

_"Accessing the Oracle grid. Eastern Seaboard."_

"What your father did to my family over 40 years, I will do to you in 40 seconds." Ivan told him in a dangerously threatening voice.

"Sounds good lets get together and hash it out." Tony joked, trying to keep his cool.

_"Tri-State area. Manhattan."_

"I hope you're ready, because I have something of yours that I know you want back."

Tony silenced himself, instantly knowing what that something was. Rebecca. Ben was listening in on the conversation and had a look of horror all over his face, fearing the worst.

Ivan walked over to Rebecca and held the phone next to her ear, provoking her to speak to her father to prove he had the leverage. She didn't want to speak, she didn't want to worry her father, but Ivan terrified her and she could see the look in his eyes wouldn't accept her refusal.

"I'm sorry dad." she spoke quietly. She hated herself for once again becoming the bait and the burden. Always in trouble, always needing to be saved.

"Bec, don't worry alright? I'm gonna come get you, it's okay." Tony assured her, trying to hurry up the trace of the call.

"I'm okay, don't wor-"

Ivan snatched the phone back. "See you soon Tony."

The call ended with a dead line, the beeping of the phone confirming that it was over.

_"Call trace incomplete."_

Ben felt his heart almost stop beating at his terror. "Who?" he asked, barely managing to form a sentence.

Tony's teeth ground together as he thought to himself. "Ivan Vanko. He was the man who tried to kill me in Monaco."

"But...that guy died in the explosion. I read about it, he's dead."

Tony tried to narrow down the results of the call trace, but it wasn't as helpful as it seemed. "Apparently not. But he will be."

Tony stood up angrily and walked over to the small arc reactor that was powering up with the new element inside. It wasn't ready yet, it was no where near ready, but Tony didn't have time.

"Sir!" Jarvis warned.

"What are you doing!" Ben asked, shocked as he didn't have a clue what the glowing circle was going to do.

"You wanna run some tests? Run 'em." Tony ordered Jarvis, putting the new core into his chest. "And assemble the suit while you're at it."

"We are unclear as to the effects-"

"I don't want to hear it Jarvis." Tony cut in. "That's tastes like coconut. And metal." he commented as he pulled a variety of facial expressions at the contact of the new source. "Oh wow, yeah!"

Ben rushed over to him as Tony breathed heavily, reveling in the newfound power e felt within himself because of the arc reactor. It was intense. He could feel his heart besting faster and his chest was adjusting to the overwhelming feeling, but there was no pain, and he was confident it would work despite Jarvis's concerns.

"What is that?" Ben pointed.

Tony looked down at his chest which was glowing wildly. "That's what's going to keep me alive from now on."

Ben looked back up at him, confused. "You mean you're not dying?"

"Not anymore." Tony shook his head. "I think. I don't know yet. I just have to get to Rebecca."

"I can run tracking signals." Ben assured Tony as he prepared himself for the suit. "I'm good with computers, I can track phone calls and locators and feed you the information, anything you need."

Tony didn't even doubt the boy's skills, he knew he was just as determined to find Rebecca. "Good, you can stay here and talk to me."

"I need to find her."

"I'll find her." Tony raised his voice, stepping onto the suit assembling dock. "The best thing _you_ can do right now is stay here and work the computer, I'm gonna need you."

Ben nodded, but he didn't have a strong sense of faith in himself. "I'll do anything, just bring her back."

Tony glanced over to Ben as he was getting ready for the suit, seeing the desperation in his eyes that mirrored his heartbroken voice. He really cared for her, Tony could see that now more than ever. He understood that feeling, wanting to protect someone so much and the fear of not knowing if they were okay. He felt that way for two of the most important people in his life. His daughter, and Pepper. The thought of losing either of them tore him to shreds every time he thought about it. He had to find her.

"There'll be a tracking device for Pepper's cell, make sure she's safe and keep me updated on her whereabouts." he told Ben.

"I will." Ben nodded. "I'll make sure she's safe, I promise."

''You can't tell her what's going on.'' he told him. ''Too much has happened, I need to explain all of this to her myself.''

Ben hated that he was being asked to lie to Pepper, again. ''She knows Rebecca's missing.''

Tony groaned. ''Tell her everything is fine.''

''Tony-''

''I know, I _shouldn't_ lie to her and we should just tell her, but we can't pull her into this now. We need to keep her safe. If she knows she'll drop everything and try to help, I can't risk it, I need her safe.''

Ben understood where he was coming from and his justification, and although he didn't like the idea of lying to Pepper about what was going on, he realized why Tony was so desperate to keep her out of it. She meant too much to him to see her in danger as well, he couldn't live with himself if something happened to her because he couldn't fix it.

''Like I said, I'll do anything.''

* * *

Rebecca had been standing around the same room for a while now, wondering exactly what Ivan was planning to do but too scared to ask. She was genuinely scared of this man. It wasn't like when she was taken captive by Obadiah, she knew him and could anticipate him, but this man was a stranger, and he was dangerous.

Ivan was working on the computer, making sure the codes were right for when he needed to use the drones he had created and disguised as suits. He couldn't fail this time, it was one shot only and he couldn't miss his chance to finally have his revenge on Tony Stark by destroying him completely.

"Why do you even have me here?" Rebecca finally asked, her curiosity and frustration reaching a max. "It's pointless."

"Nothing I do is pointless." Ivan countered, not looking up from his computer screen. "You're confused as to why you're here."

Rebecca threw her hands up. "Yeah, I am! What do you want from me?"

"I have explained my intentions."

"What? To kill me?"

"You must wait."

Rebecca walked around the room angrily. "I'm sick of being in here like some caged animal! You think you're going to kill me and my father, well you're wrong!" she yelled. "All you care about is power and greed, people like you never win."

Ivan then turned his gaze toward her. "Do not think I will not kill you."

Rebecca stepped back at his threatening glare, fear crossing her mind once again at the man. As he held his glare, the door opened, startling her.

"Is everything okay in here?" Lucas asked as he stepped inside, looking between them both, curious after hearing their raised voices.

"All is good." Ivan stood up. "But I must go check some things."

Lucas stood back in front of the door to stop him, crossing his arms in front of his chest. Rebecca could tell Ivan didn't like that, he was immediately silent and turned his angry looks toward the boy now instead.

"Can't let you do that." Lucas shook his head. "Hammer's words, not mine."

"Justin Hammer is not here." Ivan reminded him.

"Well, I'm under _his_ orders, and I can't let you leave."

Ivan chuckled before stepping forward quickly and grabbing onto Lucas's shirt. He pulled him closer to show his anger, his eyes full of fury and threat. Rebecca watched on nervously, hoping she wouldn't witness a murder.

"Step aside young man." he told him calmly. "You have no power here."

Lucas squirmed in Ivan's grip, pushing him away. His arm reached up and showed a small button, mirroring a detonator. "One click and I have the whole security team down here."

To this, Ivan only chuckled once again. "This could end _very_ badly for you."

Rebecca's eyes were glued to the scene playing out before her, but her mind soon adjusted to the situation and her instincts set in. This was her opportunity to get out of this place, or at least try. There was a small gap between where Ivan stood and the door, she could easily fit behind and run for it, but she was scared. If Ivan caught her, she was afraid of what he would do since she had seen his weapons and what he was capable of, but this was her only chance.

Rebecca took a few steps closer, and the gap between Ivan and the door seemed smaller as she saw it properly, but it was still big enough for her to squeeze through quickly. She moved closer, sneaking right up behind Ivan's back before she made her move.

"Hey!" Lucas yelled over Ivan's shoulder as he saw her duck behind and for through the gap.

Rebecca turned her head momentarily as she hurried away from them, seeing both their eyes following her, and then Ivan dropped Lucas.

"Get her." he told him simply.

"Get back here!" Lucas scrambled to his feet and ran after the girl, repeating the same quest he had taken in earlier to get her here.

Rebecca ran as fast as she could through the huge warehouse with drones lined around the room hauntingly. This was Hammer Industries, there had to be a way out. There was a a set of metal stairs over in the corner that lead up to a set of ramps above some shipping containers, and she headed for it. Lucas wasn't far behind her, but she pusher herself to make it to the stairs. Her feet slammed down on the metal with force as she climbed each of the stairs, but when she reached the stop, a hand grabbed her shoulder.

"Stop!" Lucas yelled, grabbing at her arms forcefully.

Rebecca finally had enough, and instead of bothering with talking herself out of this one, she swung her arm around as hard as she could and slammed it into Lucas's jaw, pushing him backwards down the stairs and began running again. She could hear Lucas's body rolling down the metal stairs and then a thud of him hitting the ground, swearing.

"Bitch!" he yelled out, squirming on the ground as he cradled his injury. "There's no way out up there, you're stuck!"

Rebecca wouldn't let herself believe his words, as much as she knew he was right. However, there was a fire escape in the roof leading up onto the top level, and that was now her goal. She checked behind herself a few times to make sure Lucas wasn't running after her yet, and then she pulled on the lever and opened the escape. She had to jump to reach a grip and pull herself up, but she was glad she did so.

The exit led up to the roof of the building, and it was quite high. Rebecca didn't know how terrified she was of heights before she found herself looking down at the city beneath, knowing she was indeed stuck up here. She had no phone, no way to let anyone know where she was or get help. She was stuck.

* * *

Pepper couldn't stop fidgeting. If it wasn't her hair, it was her face, and her dress, and nails, and her shoes and her desk. She couldn't stop moving, and she couldn't focus enough on her work to den finish a single review.

"Are you alright, Ms. Potts?"

Natalie's voice didn't register with Pepper at first until she asked a second time, clearly concerned about Pepper's behavior. Ms. Rushmore had now become Pepper's temporary assistant since she had so much to deal with after Tony's chaotic party.

"Hmm?" Pepper turned her chair to look over to the woman who was holding a folder of chores in front of her. "Oh, I'm fine, I'm just having a little trouble focusing today."

Natalie nodded. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"No, it's fine." Pepper shook her head, trying to find her motivation again. "Actually, I have a few calls to make."

Natalie closed her folder and stood up. "Of course. Do you need anything while I'm out?"

"A cup of coffee would be nice."

Natalie walked out of the room and shut the door behind her, leaving Pepper to herself for a whole to make some calls. She picked up her phone and, out of habit, speedily dialed Tony's home number. It rang and rang, and Pepper thought she would get the same response as earlier when the phone lines were disconnected, but then the ringing stopped and she heard an unexpected voice.

''Hello? Tony?''

''Oh, hey Pepper, it's actually Ben.''

Pepper instantly became a mixture of confused and worried as she heard Ben's voice. ''Is everything okay?''

''Oh, yeah, it's all good.'' Ben lied, trying to keep a relaxed tone of voice as he typed away at the computer to track routes for Tony to take. ''How's work?''

''Uh, work's...fine.'' Pepper told him, becoming more and more confused. ''Is Rebecca with you?''

That was the question Ben was anticipating and dreading, he had to lie and he hated it. ''Yep, everything's okay now Pepper, I haven't had a chance to call. Sorry about before, worrying you and all.''

Pepper sighed with relief. ''That's okay, I'm just glad everything's sorted out.''

Ben absolutely hated himself at that moment. Hearing Pepper so happy and relieved that Rebecca was okay, when he didn't even know that himself yet, in fact he didn't have any idea where she was.

''Is Tony there?" Pepper asked.

"Uh, no he's not, we're just hanging out, I don't know where he is." Ben told her, fearing his lies might be caught out. Pepper paused for a moment, wondering where he was. "Did you want me to leave a message for him?"

"No, that's okay. I've got a lot of work to do, maybe I can _finally_ concentrate now I'm not worrying." Pepper joked, but Ben couldn't have felt worse about what he was doing. "I'll see you later."

"So you'll be at the office for the rest of the day, will you?"

"Until later on, I will be. Why? Is there something you guys need?"

"No, just wondering. I'll see you later Pepper."

Ben put the phone back down and paused for a moment, thinking about what he had just done. He knew he worried Pepper was about Rebecca and that she was on edge all day, and he had just told her everything was okay. A fact that he couldn't prove and didn't know how to fix. Tony was right though, they couldn't put Pepper in danger and if he had told her the truth now she wouldn't be safe. So much had happened since this morning, hey didn't have enough time to explain, they just needed to act.

''Ben, you there?'' Tony's voice came into the room over the system as he was flying in the suit.

Ben straightened himself up and looked back to the computer. ''Yeah, I'm here.'' he answered back professionally. ''I got the tracks feeding straight to you, you'll need to sync with the updated streets.''

''My suit's always updated.''

''Well, that certainly makes things easier. I've got a few routes you should check and I'm tracking the last remaining seconds we have left of the phone conversation, but...it's difficult, I'm working on it.''

''Sounds like a plan. Keep me updated.''

''Will do.''

Ben continued staring at the computer screen, working out specific areas to check and possible locations. He just wanted Rebecca back safely, and he wasn't moving from his position until he was sure he had done everything he possibly could to find her.

* * *

**Hope you guys enjoyed the update. I've been busy lately, and I'm currently finishing up the second part to my one-shot Christmas chapter to ''Being A Stark'', so I thought I'd update now I've finished this chapter. Expect more action stuff next chapter, although I'm not sure when the next update will be, however I usually write rather quickly so it could be within the next few days. Please review! Thanks for reading. **


	22. Chapter 22

The city looked miles away as she stared down at it from above the Hammer Industries building, Research and Development to be precise, and Rebecca was panicking. There was no way she was going back down the fire escape and into the building where Lucas and Ivan were awaiting her, but there was no way off of the building from up here either. It seemed as though she would have to wait it out.

For some delusional reason, she kept thinking maybe her dad would show up. Maybe Iron Man would save her. Maybe she wouldn't have to worry about being killed by Ivan Vanko or her father dying, but it was all just thoughts, she was stuck up here and she had no idea where her dad was or if he was okay. She had no idea what Ivan was planning, or if this was his plan all along.

"Told you there was no way out up here."

Rebecca spun around to see Lucas leaning against the concrete wall next to him, right beside the fire escape he had climbed up. He looked at her with no sympathy or pity, he was a stranger to her now as he had always been, but she held very little fear of him.

"I'd rather be stuck up here than down there." Rebecca gestured toward the door leading back down into the building.

Lucas followed her line or vision into the distance. "I don't think he's coming this time."

Rebecca didn't turn to look at him. "Good."

"Oh I get it," he chuckled. "You're doing this whole martyr act, I see. Trying to save your dad by putting yourself in the danger, taking his place."

"_I_ didn't put myself in anything, you're the one who brought me here."

"I delivered." he corrected. "Hammer was the one who put you in this."

To this, Rebecca chuckled slightly. "Oh, that's right, you're the little errand boy now, aren't you? What is that with you?" she turned to him. "You have his psychological need to please people who have zero power."

Lucas glared at her. "You don't know anything. You have no idea what power Hammer has."

"I doubt it could be any more power than a high school janitor."

As Rebecca folded her arms in front of her, she felt something on her wrists. Without looking, she simply slid her hand along as felt a metal band. Her heart began pounding in her chest as he realized what the metal bands were. They were the signaling devices she created for her suit. It was a commander, it activated the suit's mobility and followed signals to the wrist bands. She created the device after a few ideas from her dad's suit and added a few improvements, but because of the turn of events, she never got around to testing this piece.

She continued looking at him as if she had never discovered the metal wristbands, using her best poker face as she focused back on their conversation.

Lucas shook his head, almost disappointed. "You don't know what you're talking about. I'll give you a little tip though." he made sure she was paying attention. "You might be playing the martyr here, but Ivan won't care. He'll kill you and then go for your dad, he'll even use that to torture him." Rebecca flinched at the word. "Just because you're here trying to be the hero and fix things doesn't mean it will change anything."

Rebecca looked back at him with the same blank expression, refusing to show any sort of emotion to him. "Then I guess I am stuck up here."

"I don't think so." Lucas raised his voice. "As you've said, I follow my orders, and I was ordered keep you down there."

"And you've done a great job with that, haven't you?" she waved her arms around, showing where they were.

Lucas sighed. "You don't have to make this difficult for yourself, just go back."

"No threats? I think your bad-boy image is slipping."

"I could threaten you if you want, but I don't think you'd like the consequences." Lucas looked at her with a more intense glare, trying to show her he was being serious.

"Don't bother," she rolled her eyes. "If this really won't make a difference, then what's the point in fighting it?"

Rebecca walked over to the fire escape once again and took a few steps down. She was still working on a plan in her head, trying to think of her next move. There really was no point resisting, she would suffer either way if she stayed up there. There was always the option to climb down over the other fire escapes and ladders, but they were all locked and she really had nowhere else to go.

As they reached the bottom, Lucas pushed her in front of him and grabbed her arms to hold behind her back, putting back on the tough guy act to meet Ivan. He looked over to her with a grin as he saw her being brought back.

"You have surprised me," he looked to Lucas. "I thought you were following Hammer's orders."

Lucas seemed confused. "I _am_ following Hammer's orders."

"Well that's too bad, I could've used another man on my side."

Ivan grabbed Lucas's hair and dragged his head back, slamming it forward into the wall. His unconscious body hit the ground with a slump and Rebecca watched on in horror. That was her reason to why she hated him. He betrayed everyone, e couldn't be trusted, he couldn't be predicted or read, he was insane.

"Why did you do that!" she asked, shocked.

"He couldn't be trusted." Ivan shrugged carelessly. "You see, Justin Hammer thinks I'm going to murder you, and he wants no part in that. Dead body found at his headquarters? Bad press, especially a Stark. This...boy, was meant to supervise and if things got out of hand, he would ruin everything for me."

Rebecca's chest was rising and falling quicker, fear rising. "You're going to kill me." It wasn't a question.

Ivan nodded his head. "Like I said, today the Stark name will be rewritten."

Rebecca couldn't help her body trembling with fear, she was terrified of this man. "How?"

Ivan smirked. "Patience."

Rebecca's arms were still behind her back, and she slowly slipped each hand up her wrists in search of the metal bands. Never having used them before, she had no idea if they would even work, but it was her only hope. Her fingers hovered over the buttons.

"I hope for these to be your father's fate as well. How about a preview?" Ivan asked, pulling out the same case he was using earlier. The case with the whips that could split anything in two and kill in an instant.

That's when she pressed the buttons and hoped that this would work.

* * *

"Are you still following the route?" Ben asked, typing away speedily at the computer keyboard, his eyes watching everything on the screen.

"Yep, there's nothing." Tony answered.

Ben could tell he was frustrated, but there was nothing he could do to guarantee that one of the routes would lead to Rebecca. He had been trying for an hour to uncover the location of the phone call, but since it cut out before the call could be traced, it was rather difficult.

"I'm gonna search a new feed, just keep going." Ben told him.

Ben clicked into a few more files, opening new and more advanced tracking technology. He did have a fair idea of where the call came from thanks to Jarvis's tracking until it cut out, and that's where he had sent Tony, but it was becoming impossible to actually find an individual building. There were programs that could run a detailed test on the phone call and analyze the exact location, but it was powerful software that needed time and lots of passwords.

"Yeah, use that." Tony told him as Ben asked about the program. "Initialize it now."

"Need passwords." Tony called out a few passwords and codes for the program, allowing access to the files. "Okay, it's initializing now. Why didn't you tell me about this program?"

"Was kinda in a rush." Tony defended. "And...I don't think it's completely legal."

Ben took in a deep breath and exhaled. "So I'm running an_ illegal_ tracking program right now."

"Looks like it." Tony said simply.

"Great. As long as it works, I don't care." Ben opened numerous tabs and watched as the program hunted down the cell phone code numbers. "I'm searching now, I'll let you know when I get something new."

Ben was hoping this would work. It was their only chance to find Rebecca, it needed to work. As the program was running, Ben looked over the research Tony had on Ivan Vanko. He was a physicist, he was Russian, his father worked on the arc reactor with Howard Stark, and he was dangerous. Ben remembered seeing the footage on the news of Ivan at Monaco, trying to kill Tony, and he was sure that he was a very dangerous man. The fact that worried him, amongst many other things, was that he knew Rebecca was frightened of him. He remembered her telling him about when she ran out onto that track.

_"I've never been scared of many things, not as I've grown up and faced them all, but this guy was different. He looked at me like he knew me, everything about me, and that he could easily kill whoever he wanted. I'm just glad he's locked away for good."_

Ben felt scared for her, and he wasn't even there, but he wished he was. He wanted to be there protecting her anyway he could, and instead he sat here behind a computer trying to find where she was, getting nowhere.

A cracking sound was heard in the floor behind him. Ben turned in his chair to see what it was, but he couldn't make out what was causing it. The tiles on the ground began to crack, separating from one another and forming large holes in the floor until something powered up and shot out of the ground. It looked like a silver briefcase, and it took off from the hole in the cement floor and smashed it's way through the remaining glass walls, through the sky, leaving a trail.

"Holy shit!" Ben yelled as it smashed through the walls, ducking his head to avoid the glass shards floating into the air. "What the _hell _was that?"

Tong could barely hear him. "What? What was what? Talk to me."

Ben was finding it hard to look up again, fearing something else would fly out and throw more glass. "T-that thing! The ground! It _flew_!"

"Okay, you're gonna have to be a bit more descriptive. What happened?" Tony began to worry.

Ben took a deep breath. "Something...a box maybe, just _broke_ through the cement floor in here and flew out the window!"

"In there? In my workshop?" Tony asked, confused.

"Yes! Like, five meters from where I'm sitting! The cement cracked and this thing just flew out!" Ben yelled, almost insulted that Tony didn't believe him.

Tony thought to himself what it could be but couldn't remember installing anything in the ground. "Jarvis, what've you got for me."

"It seems an unidentifiable object has ejected from the ground, sir."

Tony rolled his eyes. "You don't say. Have we got a reading on it?"

"Unfortunately not, sir. I have nothing in my database that is familiar with the object however it seems it has been rather strategically planted." Jarvis informed him.

"Wasn't me." Tony quickly spoke. "No idea what it was."

Ben put his arms up in surrender. "Just tell me there's no more, that scared the hell out of me."

"Jarvis-"

"Already scanning the perimeter sir." Jarvis interrupted. "All clear."

Tony was confused as to what it could've been. He knew he hadn't put it there, he would've remembered and he certainly didn't have time to make anything for the past few weeks, he was dying. As much as it bothered him, he needed to focus on finding Rebecca.

"Forget about it, we'll sort it out later." Tony told Ben. "Just get those tracking maps up."

Ben nodded to himself. "Already feeding them through. Should have them up now, program's currently decoding the phone serial numbers and tracking is in progress. Anything new, you'll know about it."

Tony smiled to himself, impressed by Ben's dedication. With his help, he had greater hope.

* * *

Pepper was feeling better about her day now that she knew Rebecca was home safe. She had completed a bunch of work, managed to finish up a few reviews and even took a couple of phone calls.

"Ms. Potts?" Natalie's voice came into the room. Pepper looked up and saw the assistant standing at the door professionally waiting for Pepper to put the phone down again. "Sorry to interrupt."

"No, you're fine."

"You've got five minutes before we have to leave."

Pepper nodded. "Great, I'll be ready."

"Excellent. I'll come collect you when Happy has the car ready."

Pepper smiled as Natalie left her office, relieved she had finished her work for the day and only had to worry about the Expo tonight. She has forgotten all about it through her day, but now all her concerns were subsided, she could worry about it. Being CEO, she had to attend, but she couldn't help feel sad that Tony wouldn't be there. It was his family's event.

Pepper knew she had no right to be, but she felt guilty. He was ready to apologize to her earlier, ready to completely take responsibility for his actions and own up to them, and she ignored him, instead telling him to leave. She hated the way things had become between the two of them, they had grown so far apart these past few weeks, but these few days have been the worst. Something else was going on, she knew that, but Tony wouldn't tell her so she never pushed the issue. That one occasion on the jet home from Monaco, she did push the issue, but he dodged it and there was no getting through to him. Tomorrow she would go see him and sort things out, just so she could have peace of mind knowing that what she needed to say was said. There were so many things she wanted to say to him, but as usual, she kept the relationship professional. Her mind lingered on him until her office door opened once again.

"Are you ready?" Natalie asked politely.

Pepper stood up and straightened her skirt. "Yes, let's go."

* * *

Ivan was still circling the warehouse with his whips, the ones connected to the arc reactor, and tested them on all sorts of equipment. It split a shipping container in half, and that was a frightening sight when Rebecca knew he wanted her dead.

"It's a shame Tony's not here. I could show him first hand how powerful I am." he gloated. "That he is not the only one with the knowledge to create such energy and power. I could show him that what he created, I can use to destroy his life."

Rebecca didn't want to look at the man, she just wanted to run, but she knew there was nowhere to run. Lucas was still limp on the ground looking lifeless, and she wondered whether or not he would wake up at all considering the impact his head had with the concrete wall. Her hope was fading for the suit to reach her, it had been a while since she pressed the locater button but she sill held hope.

"Are you afraid?" he asked, catching her off guard.

She didn't know how to respond. If she admitted her fear, he had the power, but there was no way she could pull off being carefree right now.

"Why would I be?"

Ivan chuckled. "Why would you not? I hold a weapon in my hand that can kill you with one hit."

"A gun could do that."

"A gun holds no such power."

"But what's the point of power, when it all ends in one hit anyway, either way?"

Ivan continued walking around, dragging the electrifying whips along the ground behind him. Rebecca could see the indentations they were making on the concrete floor, cutting through it with ease. They were extremely powerful.

"You of all people should understand the importance of power when it comes to a weapon. Being in a family of murderers, no doubt you have witnessed the firepower of Stark Industries weapons."

Rebecca shook her head. "Never cared about the firepower."

Ivan laughed. "Oh, the lies! You're a Stark, you thrive on the weapons and the power-"

"Actually, no." Rebecca interrupted defensively, letting to of some of the fear that was stopping her from facing him. "Stark Industries weapons manufacturing was shut down nearly eight months ago. How can you say my father thrives on making weapons when it was his decision to stop the whole thing?"

Ivan looked back at her with interest, suddenly willing to talk more now that she wasn't silencing herself. "And you know why he did that?"

"I know everything, sorry, you can't manipulate me."

But Ivan continued as if she didn't answer him. "Because he saw what he was doing to the world. Killing all of those people with his name, his weapons, he was shamed by his own company."

Rebecca nodded firmly. "Yeah. Yeah, he was ashamed. The whole thing was hidden in the dark, weapons were being shipped out to terrorists groups illegally by...Obadiah Stane. My father fixed it."

"You're father merely cleaned up the mess for the glory." Ivan raised his voice. "That's all he cared about. Glory, fame, attention...and so attention he will get. I'll show the world how Tony Stark betrayed them, betrayed my family-"

"I get it! Your family suffered." Rebecca yelled. "But it wasn't at the hands of my father or my grandfather, so stop trying to paint this little plan of yours as vengeance. It was your own father who got himself deported back to Russia, _his_ fault, no one else."

Ivan's eyes widened at the fact that this girl was throwing the blame back at his father for his family's suffering. It was Howard Stark who betrayed his father, there was no getting past that. Rebecca was scared what Ivan would do now she had made him furious, but since he was going to kill her either way, there were a few things she needed to get off of her chest.

"Watch your mouth." he told her angrily. "It will all be over for you soon enough. You'll get what you deserve, and so will your father."

Rebecca was about to say something back to him, but her attention was taken by something. The metal bands on her wrists began flashing quicker and quicker, and she instantly remembered the signals she had altered into them. The closer the suit became, the bands would flash to indicate their location to call upon the suit quicker. Her heart began racing again, thinking what would happen if this didn't work.

"Yeah, well," she looked over to the window high above the wall in the warehouse, noticing the flashing on the bands becoming quicker. "I look forward to your attempt."

Ivan slashed one of the whips against the ground, cracking through the concrete as he yelled. "This is no _attempt_-"

The glass window shattered into thousands of tiny shards above their heads as something burst through. Rebecca shielded her face from the falling glass, trying to see where it was. It landed right in front of Rebecca's feet, the metal bands signaling it's location to stop. It was a silver suitcase, inspired by her father's transforming suit at Monaco, and it was designed for her personally. She put her hands onto the identification scanner and the case popper open, revealing small handles which she was to pull.

She quickly put her hands down into the handles and pulled, lifted the suit's chest piece onto the upper part of her body and extending her arms out for it to form around her body as the lower half began to assemble as she put her feet into the moulds.

The suit assembled around her exactly as it had for Tony, which meant she had successfully copied the same system. Ivan watched on with wide eyes as Rebecca disappeared within the confines of the metal suit, which held no color, instead it was chrome and mirrored all of it's surroundings giving it stealth. She had only run practice tests on the suit a few times, limited by it's secrecy, but she managed to understand the dynamics and how each attachment communicated with her after her many weeks of reading over the smallest of details while she recovered from her reconstructed broken leg. She held her hand up, pointed at Ivan threateningly, mirroring her father's movements.

Ivan's lips curled up into a smile at the sight. "Have I not proven those suit's cannot stand against this?" he held up his hands holding the whips.

"Ended pretty well last time."

Ivan shook his head. "You have just became a part of this, you are as much my enemy now as your father."

Although he couldn't see her, Rebecca had a smirk on her face. Being in the suit, it made her feel powerful, like she could finally stand up to him, and that's exactly what she was going to do. She could finally fight back and protect herself. This time she wasn't going to be the bait.

"Bring it on."

* * *

**Okay, I really hope this chapter wasn't a disappointment. As you see, I have now introduced Rebecca's suit. Now, the appearance of this suit is like the first suit Tony made and the first one he flew before adding color. It's completely chrome and mirrors everything, so that means flying makes it virtually invisible. I wanted to separate the suits on different levels and as the chapters go on, you'll see the differences between Rebecca's suit and Tony' and how they each contain different abilities and devices. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review letting me know what you think about how I'm going. Thanks for reading!**

***By the way, I'm getting very busy as Christmas becomes closer so whenever I finish a chapter I'll be updating it straight away but that means I might update tomorrow or not for another week. Stay with me guys, thanks!**


	23. Chapter 23

Ivan had to prove his point, show that he wasn't a man to be fooled or looked down upon, but he wasn't ready. The electrifying whips weren't yet installed into the suit that he has prepared to fight with. That was to be the afternoon's project until Rebecca had escaped the confines of the guarded room. He wasn't ready, but he wasn't going to let her know that. There was a suitcase to his left, the one that his current weapon of choice had come out of, and it contained all sorts of other weapons, and he needed to get to it.

"Are you even sure you know how to work that thing?" he smirked, trying to keep his intimidation up even though she now had the upper hand.

As soon as the words left his mouth, he knew the answer. Rebecca raised her hand to one of the drone suits that were lined up over by the side and shot out a powerful blast toward them, knocking drone to the floor and shattering all of it's parts from the powerful force.

"Seems easy enough." she moved her hand back to aim toward Ivan again. "Beats the hell out of those whips, which by the way is an extremely weird choice of weaponry."

Ivan chuckled. "So now you have the suit on, you're true colors show. Suddenly you're without fear."

Ivan swung his arm around and aimed one of his whips toward her, casting it off with force in hopes to reach her. The suit's repulsers kicked in and launched her into the air, missing the sting of the whips Ivan tried to hit her with. This was her first actual flight that was bigger than a 3% thrust capacity. She had limited time and space to test a lot of things, but was glad they all worked properly.

"Threatened?" Rebecca asked, hovering just above the ground away from him so the whips couldn't reach.

"By you? I don't think so." Ivan told her firmly.

"Well you _should_ be, because I'm not letting you kill my father." Rebecca raised her voice as her feet hit the ground. "You'll go back to prison where you belong, back in Russia."

Ivan's hands had crept over to the case of assorted weapons as he had created the diversion, sending Rebecca further away so he had his opportunity.

"How do you plan to do that when you're dead?" Ivan asked.

Rebecca stated at him with a mixture of confusion and fear as time seemed to stop. She saw his hand come up, holding a gun-like weapon toward her, as it shot out a small missile that latched onto the metal on her suit. At first, she didn't know what had happened. She hadn't felt any pain or force, only a slight tap at the armor surrounding her. It attached itself to her as if it was made of glue. It was clear by the beeping of the device that it was a timed bomb, and she didn't know how long she had before it detonated.

"Oh, and this building is full of people." Ivan reminded her with a smile, knowing she would fear for their innocent lives. ''Your choice.''

Rebecca looked around, panicking. Her first thought was to get out of this warehouse, but she was so worried about the timer that she couldn't think straight. Her eyes fixed onto the broken window that her suit had flown through, and she soon found herself flying upward and breaking through the concrete as she tried to fly out of it.

In her suit, she had her own version of Jarvis. It was the same characteristics and all, except her version was altered to obtain knowledge of her suit and it's dynamics instead of Tony's suits which were different in many ways. It wasn't difficult to obtain, Jarvis was in all systems of the house and Rebecca had access to almost anything in the house and technical systems.

"Jarvis, please tell me you're there." Rebecca pleaded as she flew higher into the sky.

"Indeed, Miss. Stark."

Rebecca looked down as she flew into the air, trying to see what was on her. ''What the hell is on me?''

''It is a timed explosive.''

She cursed herself for being so stupid as to give Ivan such an opportunity to take a shot at her like that. ''Thought so. How long have I got before this thing goes off? And how do I get rid of it?''

Jarvis took a moment to reply, scanning the device. "You have twelve seconds. The device appears to be attached to one of the glider attachments on the right abdominal area. I suggest ejecting this attachment."

Rebecca flew further away from the building, making sure to input the location in her system. "If it eject that piece I won't be able to control my speed."

"There is no other option. Nine seconds remaining."

Rebecca groaned loudly and thought to herself of another way, but soon gave up. If Jarvis couldn't find an alternative, there was none. She had to get away from buildings in order to avoid the explosive harming anyone, so she flew higher and higher into the air. The icing problem was not a worry after Rebecca had taken care of it, a lesson learned from her father's first flight.

"Seven seconds." Jarvis informed her as she tried to fly higher. "Five seconds."

"I'm trying to get away!" Rebecca yelled.

"Three sec-"

"Eject it!" she yelled.

Rebecca felt air blow onto her abdomen as the piece of metal shielding her was ejected from the suit, falling into the air. It was perfectly timed, accidentally, as it exploded into the air just below her feet, her body feeling a slight thud from the pressure.

She gave herself a few moments to think as she carefully made her way back down from the sky. Her speed was an issue now that the glider attachment was gone, it was supposed to control the air and act as a brake, but now she only had the flight stabilizers to rely on.

Rebecca was glad the miniature bomb didn't do any damage to any buildings or explode while still attached to her, but she knew she had more to worry about now. Thanks to this little stunt pulled by Ivan, he now had time to work on his own suit given Rebecca had flown so far from the building and she had yet to create a route back. She couldn't focus properly just yet, however, her mind was still busied by the sight of the explosion. For a small device, it seemed awfully powerful and that thought alone made Rebecca wonder just how many other weapons Ivan had access to that were so dangerous.

As if there wasn't enough to worry about, something came into her line of vision that she would have rather not seen. A red and gold suit staring right back at her with intensity. Rebecca didn't move, her hand still covering the small hole where the armor was, as she stared back silently at her father in the skies.

* * *

_Earlier..._

"Queens." Ben told Tony as the tracking program had finished. "It's not an _exact_ location, the phone must've been destroyed, but they're in Queens."

Tony spun around in the air and flew speedily toward the location, luckily not too far from it. "Well that narrows it down to...all of Queens, great."

Ben sighed. "It's the best I could get."

"Not your fault, you've done good, I just wish I could find her." Tony told him, feeling bad about seeming unappreciative. "I'll do a few rounds of the place, see what's up. Keep running the program, maybe it'll bring back something. Any word from Pepper?"

"No, but she's heading to the Expo."

Tony then remembered what tonight was. The Stark Expo. His mind ran through a number of thoughts before his kind clicked when he remembered Justin Hammer. Something wasn't right, and he could feel something bad was going to happen at the hands of him. Hammer knew Tony wouldn't be at the Expo and had his chance to try and outdo him with some new experiment. That's when he remembered Hammer's keen interest in the suits from the Senate hearing, and then asking Tony for a slot in the Expo while they were in Monaco, after the footage of Hammer's suit attempts being publicized. It all made sense now, he had built a suit or something less advanced, and knowing Hammer it might even be an army.

"Where is Pepper now?"

Ben looked to the tracking grid, searching for Pepper's cell. "She is...on her way still. She's with Mr. Hogan and Ms. Rushmore."

"Mr. Who? Oh, Happy! And Natalie...great. Keep a watch on Pepper for me."

"I've already lied to her, I don't want to spy on her as well."

"Not spying, just glancing at her whereabouts every now and then, it's in her best interests."

Ben rolled his eyes, not liking the invasion of privacy he was agreeing to, but there wasn't much he had done this evening that he had particularly wanted to, including launching the illegal government program.

"Anything else?"

Tony thought. "Pull up what you can on Justin Hammer. Let me know if anything's weird or leads to Vanko. Oh, and keep an eye on Rhodes as well, I need him."

''Got it.''

Tony continued flying around the city, making his way into Queens a while later thanks to his limitless speed and flight, and keeping his eyes wide open for anything suspicious. The Expo was being held here in Queens as well tonight, and that fact just made Tony even more suspicious of Justin Hammer. Hammer Industries Headquarters were in Queens as well. It was all too coincidental to not be linked together.

He continued flying over buildings, scanning for any signs, and he saw Hammer Industries just a few buildings away. Curious, he decided to make his way over and scope it out in case anything was off. He needed something to work with, anything, because he was running on nothing at the moment. No clues, nothing, just the fact or was in this area. As he neared the building, he halted his flight when he saw something bust through the concrete wall at the back, taking his attention completely.

It was all silver, reflecting, and it looked insanely advanced. This was no 'test' subject or prototype, this was the real deal. He had been monitoring numerous countries' attempts at making an Iron Man suit, but this one somehow got under the radar, and he hadn't seen anything like it before, it was successful. Unlike Tony's Iron Man suit, this one l blended together as if the metal meshed in as one whole piece. He tried to follow along with his eyes and keep pace with the object, but it's speed soon became rapid and it flew higher into the sky above them. Tony followed, determined to find out who this person was inside the suit, dreading the idea of finding Hammer inside, or Vanko, but it fueled his flight.

The closer he got, the faster the other suit became. If Tony wasn't so confident in himself, he would have to admit the other suit was faster than his, but that didn't mean he was about to give up when he was so close.

''Jarvis, scan it!'' he ordered as he tried to keep up.

''The object seems to be a very closely related version of your suit, however it is currently malfunctioning due to a potential threat.''

Tony rolled his eyes. ''Just spit it out!''

''The object seems to be carrying an explosive.'' At Jarvis' words, Tony slowed behind the other suit out of caution. ''However it does not appear to be a voluntary endeavor. The explosive is timed and will detonate regardless in nine seconds.''

Tony's eyes watched on as the suit became further away and he knew he had to get out of the way. Whoever it was seemed to be in trouble, but there was nothing to do since Tony only just found out about this other suit a minute ago and had no idea who it was or what it was running from. It came out of Hammer Industries, so there was no doubt in his mind that something was going on and his mind instantly went to Pepper, hoping nothing went wrong at the Expo where Justin Hammer would be.

The suit was nearing the last five seconds when Tony flew up to it's level, although at the side to avoid any explosion, but he was understanding what the person was doing. Flying away from the buildings, getting away from people. They were trying to protective anyone from getting hurt. Whoever it was, it was clear that they were not the enemy, but Tony wasn't sure and wasn't about to take such a risk at to trust a stranger in a suit.

The suit soon fired off a small piece of metal armor that Tony assumed was the piece affected by the explosive, and then it fired off into small shreds as it fell toward the ground, although it didn't get close enough to cause anything below or on the buildings to be affected. He kept his distance, carefully watching what the person was doing now that the explosive was no longer on them. They took a moment to themselves, staying at the same level in the sky and staring down at the small cloud of smoke that was quickly dissolving into the air, taking note of how close they came to being blown up by the explosive. They didn't notice Tony's presence yet, still too overwhelmed. Clearly they weren't used to things exploding around them.

Slowly, Tony made his way closer to the unknown suit, keeping himself distanced but near enough to see the suit fully. His eyes scanned every part of it, trying to figure out who would've been able to pull off such an incredible version of his own Iron Man suit since every person that had tried to do so was being monitored by Jarvis and any possible copy-cats were also being watched. This person didn't come up though, they had just shown up out of nowhere a few minutes ago with a suit that was sure to do as much damage as his could.

The face of the suit turned and noticed Tony a few metres away from them, watching, and they didn't move, almost stunned by the sight of Iron Man standing nearby. Not a word was spoken for almost a minute, they just held an intense stare at each other before Tony finally spoke, trying to show that he wasn't afraid or threatened by whoever this was.

''Nice suit,'' he complimented. ''So, who are you?'' The person shook their head after a small pause, indicating that they weren't going to speak or tell him their identity. ''No? Huh. Would've thought the only person who could replicate this suit would want _some_ credit for their work.'' Tony moved closer, trying to intimidate the person into speaking, but they remained silent. It was as if Iron Man scared them, they just shut down in shock. ''What were you running from?'' Again, no answer, they just shook their head in refusal. Tony was becoming frustrated with the person's attitude, his mind was still running to find Rebecca, and he knew whoever this was had an idea of what was going on. ''You better start talking.''

Then, just as he finished speaking, the suit flew up into the air rapidly and began flying away, trying to escape Iron Man. Tony then followed closely behind, determined to stop this person and find out what they knew and were trying so desperately to keep hidden from him. His suit was fast from all of the upgrades and advancements he continually added to it after each endeavor, but this other suit was still faster. It was stronger, and it was running on the same arc reactor technology as his was, but something had been altered.

They continued flying through the sky in a chase, but Tony never reached the other suit, he was always out of reach and couldn't gain the same speed. That's when he thought of ammunition. If he couldn't catch up to this person, he would just have to stop them altogether. Nothing powerful enough to cause injury, just enough to create a lengthy stall so that he could move in and take whoever it was. He brought his hand up, but just as he fired off a round of bullets from his shoulder armor, the other suit rolled in response and missed all of them. Angered, Tony decided to use some bigger ammunition, but still trying to avoid injury as he had no idea who it was, but if they didn't stark speaking and giving him answers, he wouldn't be so kind. He lifted his other arm, aiming it perfectly at the other suit, and he fired. They hit, but it was useless as they just bounced off the metal.

Whoever it was, they were determined to get away from him and Tony took that as a bad sign. Obviously they had something to hide from him, but he wasn't going to let them get away. Right now, he needed all of the answers he could get.

''Tony, you there?'' Ben's voice interrupted him.

''Little busy at the moment.''

''Did you find the building?'' he asked. ''I know I said it's in Queens, but I think I have it narrowed down to a few locations-''

''Can you fill me in on this in a few minutes? I really am busy.''

''W-well sure, but...I thought you really needed this. I went through heaps to get it-''

''I'm trying to make some friends.'' Tony told him, his eyes locked on the silver suit flying ahead of him. ''I'll get back to you.''

''What's going on?''

Tony sighed. ''Honestly, there's nothing you can do for this one.''

''I just want to know what's going on.''

''I'll fill you in later.''

Tony flew closer, thinking he was gaining speed before he realized the other suit was lost. It was weaving it's way through buildings and streets as it lowered to the ground, but then it flew up once again into the air and began flying as fast as it would go, trying to lose Iron Man's pursuit. Tony held his arm up again, this time going for the miniaturized missile to launch and scare whoever it was. Just as it launched from his wrist, the other suit turned it's head and saw what was about to happen just in time to twirl in the air, rolling away. Tony thought he had missed his chance, but fortunately for him, the other suit rolled into the side of a building and fell down on top of another. He flew over in an instant, determined not to let whoever it was escape him once again.

''Should probably watch where you're going when you fly these things.'' he landed next to the silver suit. ''Buildings are a big no-no, never turn your back on them, they're everywhere.'' Tony continued advising, his arrogance surfacing. ''So, gonna answer me now?'' Another shake of the head. ''Hmm, y'know, this whole 'mysterious' act is getting old quick, so how about I just cut straight to the point, shall I? Who are you?'' He walked up to the suit, pulling them up off the ground and holding them closer to show his seriousness. ''Tell me who you a-''

''I don't want to.'' The person in the suit spoke.

Tony loosened his grip now that they had finally uttered a word, although it wasn't a voice he was expecting. It was soft, not rough, and it didn't seem like a male's tone of voice at all. Pitch usually altered when speaking through the metal mask, but this was different.

''Well you don't have a choice and I don't have the time. Tell me who you are.''

There was a long pause between Tony's question and the possible answer, but whoever it was had given up.

''It's...it's me.''

Tony still didn't know who he was talking to, but now he was certain it was a female. ''It's_ who_?''

Then, it was revealed. His mouth dropped open inside his suit as the metal mask was taken off the silver suit, revealing the face he had been searching for and the face he never thought he would see inside a metal suit. The innocent face he had known their whole life and the person he fought each day to protect, and now they were in just as much danger as he was.

''Rebecca...''

* * *

**I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter, I think I could have done better, but here you go. Don't worry, next chapter will be better...hopefully. As I've said before, I'm extremely self-critical, so I'll complain about all of my chapter but only because I want you guys to enjoy them! So I hope you enjoyed this. Anyway, way more exciting things next chapter! I'm not sure when the next update will be, but I'll try to get it done ASAP, but if not, I will update after the New Year. Please review! Thanks for reading. **

**Hope you all enjoyed your Christmas and holidays!**


	24. Chapter 24

Rebecca and Tony's stare held for a few short moments after she had taken her metal helmet off, letting each's other react accordingly. She had never been so scared of her dad before, and he hadn't even said or done anything to make her think that he was, she just prepared herself for the flood of questions that he would be asking her any moment now. Tony couldn't speak though, he was too shocked to even process what all of this meant. All he could think about was the fact that his daughter was in a metal suit, was almost blown up and that he had chased her around the city thinking she was someone else completely. He tried to answer some of the many questions swirling around in his head for himself. Why was she wearing a suit? What was she running from? Who tried to hurt her? But the question that just wouldn't escape his mind was why. Why did she need to do this to herself? Then, he began to blame himself. She had built herself an Iron Man suit to protect herself since Tony couldn't do that anymore. That's the only reason he believed, and he blamed himself. The last time she had seen Tony in the Iron Man suit, he was not protecting her at all, in fact he was the main reason she was in danger.

''Dad?'' Rebecca spoke softly, trying to capture her dad's attention once again since he appeared to have gone into a daze. ''Say something.''

Tony just shook his head, just like she had been doing all day, but it wasn't out of refusal to speak, it was out of shock. He didn't know what to say, he didn't know what to ask, he just didn't know how to approach the situation. As he looked back up, he instantly caught on to the look of complete terror and anticipation in Rebecca's eyes, and he realized she was afraid. Afraid of his reaction and what he was going to do. Although he should be mad, he should be furious, he should yell and be authoritative for once in his parental life, he didn't feel any of that nearly as much as he felt saddened by the fact she actually feared him in that moment.

However, she had a basic understanding of what he would be feeling at the moment. Anger that she had built and used the suit after he had told her how dangerous it was for her to be involved in any of the Iron Man 'business'. Betrayal that she had gone against his word behind his back, hidden the entire thing from him and made him look like a fool, and hurt that she would even do this to him.

''I'm sorry.'' she told him honestly. ''I'm really, really sorry.''

Tony didn't react to her apology straight away, instead he just stared at her as she spoke, still trying to understand everything that was happening.

''Why?'' he looked at her with concern.

Rebecca seemed confused. ''W-what do you mean 'why'? For everything, for this.''

''But why did you do it?'''

That's the question she had been anticipating from the start. ''For myself. I didn't want to be a burden anymore. I'm always going to be used against you, always going to be the person people come after to hurt you, and I was sick of it.''

Tony didn't see it that way. Instead he saw his own failure at protecting his daughter, pushing her to the point of having to do this. ''You shouldn't have to. I should be protecting you.''

''No! See, this is _exactly_ why I did this.'' Rebecca told him firmly, raising her voice in frustration that her point wasn't getting across to him. ''I can protect_ myself_ if you just let me. The world needs you to be Iron Man and protect_ them_, not me, I can take care of myself.''

Tony shook his head again. ''You're my daughter-''

''And you will always protect me, I know that and I'm okay with that.'' Rebecca interrupted. ''But I'm not useless, I _can_ take care of myself and I can help you too.'' There was a moment of silence that overtook them both as they processed everything. ''I'm sorry.''

Tony shook his head in disbelief of the whole situation. ''How long have you been building that?''

Rebecca shrugged. ''On and off for a few months,'' Tony's eyes widened at how long she had been working on this. ''But I had a few distractions.''

Then Tony had a thought. ''Who knows...about this?''

Rebecca shook her head. ''No one. I didn't tell anyone. Only you know.''

Tony still couldn't get his head around things, it was too overwhelming. ''I just...why are you doing this?''

''I told you-''

''No, I get that part. But do you have any idea how dangerous this is?'' Tony asked her seriously, trying to make her see this wasn't okay. ''People will find out about this.''

Rebecca shook her head. ''No, they won't. I don't have to show them who I am.''

''It's too dangerous, you can't do this.''

''I'm already doing it.'' she pointed out. ''I could have been killed ten minutes ago and I saved myself. I know this is hard for you to get-''

''Hard? Bec, look what you're doing! I told you I didn't want you to be a part of this, and then you build this suit behind my back.''

Rebecca knew he would throw that back at her, but she didn't expect it anger her since it was true, but she soon found her voice raised. ''By being your daughter, I am a part of this!''

''I didn't ask you to be.''

''Neither did I, but here we are.''

Tony turned his back and took a few steps away, looking down from the top of the building. He couldn't believe any of this was happening. All he wanted to do by becoming Iron Man was protect people and now the one person he couldn't bare to see get hurt was right alongside of him wearing a metal suit, putting herself into as much danger as he was in by fighting against the bad guys.

''No, I can't watch you get yourself killed in that thing.'' Tony told her, making his point clear that he wasn't in favor of the suit. ''You need to get back home before anything else happens, we can talk about this...another time, not now.''

''That's how it feels for me all of the time.'' Rebecca told him honestly. ''I have to stay at home while you're gone risking your life, and maybe sometimes I'll hear more about it on the news than I do from you.'' Tony looked away from her, knowing he wasn't winning this. ''I don't even know if you'll come home sometimes, or if I'll wake up the next morning and you're not gonna be there.'' Those last few words struck a cord within both of them, reminding them of the events that took place last year. ''And Pepper...you have _no_ idea what she goes through. She stays at home on the nights you're out, and I know she doesn't sleep until you come home. You're not the only one who's scared of losing people, but at least we trust you enough to let you go.''

Tony finally looked back over to her, his anger slipping away little by little as he listened to her words. ''I do this to protect you, and Pepper. I can't...the thought of losing you scares me too much, and if you or Pepper ever got hurt because of what I've done in my life, there's no point in living.''

Rebecca couldn't help her eyes stinging from tears that were about to spill over her cheeks as they both spoke honestly for the first time a long while, both of them saying things they hadn't before, and then she brought up something she knew she needed to at that moment. ''You should have told me.''

They both held their stare at each other, knowing exactly what she was talking about. Rebecca still thought that Tony was dying, his condition still being critical, and that was partly why she was being so honest with him, she didn't know how long he had or how it affected him, but he wasn't dying anymore. At least he hoped not. The new element was working well and wasn't hurting him at all, it was sustaining his arc reactor and it had removed all of his symptoms. Although Jarvis was still running tests, Tony was confident he was cured.

''I was going to, but I couldn't find the right way, or the right time to tell you.'' he admitted. ''I wanted to try and do everything I could to fix it before I told you, so that I really wouldn't have to say goodbye. But I'm okay now.''

Rebecca shook her head in confusion to his last words. ''Y-you're...okay? How are you okay? I saw those tests and all of the results, I did research on palladium poisoning...you can't be okay.''

Tony tapped against his arc reactor. ''I fixed it, like I said I would. New element, that's all I needed.''

''That's '_all'_? How the hell did you get a_ new_ element?''

Tony raised his hands to calm her down. ''We can talk about all of this later, I promise this time, but I'm okay, I really am going to be fine.''

It was all too overwhelming. There had been so much happen in the last twenty minutes that it was hard to process all of it. All she wanted to hear was that her dad was going to be okay, he wasn't dying anymore, that was the biggest worry out of the way. There was so much to do though. She needed to tell him about Ivan and his plan, Hammer and how he was behind the whole thing, that Lucas was back, but most importantly that they were both being targeted to be killed.

''You should go home. I can take care of things here.''

''You don't even know what's going on.'' Rebecca pointed out. ''And again, I'm not going anywhere. You need my help.''

Tony would have argued back, but his mind was on other things as soon as she mentioned the fact he didn't know what was going on. Rebecca was in that suit when he saw it fly out of Hammer Industries, and it had taken him this long to come back to that fact due to the shock of the whole situation, but now he needed to know what was going on.

''What was going on inside that building?''

* * *

Pepper sat on the window side of the small jet that flew them all to Queens, watching the buildings come into view as they prepared for landing. She wasn't looking forward to going to the Expo, and she wasn't sure whether it was the fact she had so much to worry about today or that Tony wouldn't be there with her, or at all. She wasn't about to apologize to him at all, after all she had done nothing wrong, but she couldn't help miss seeing him from day-to-day. She loved being CEO, it had been one of her goals throughout her life to be in control of a business, but it didn't help that ever since being appointed the CEO of Stark Industries, her and Tony's relationship had gone downhill.

Pepper shook her head, criticizing herself for feeling so bad about their situation when it was Tony who had brought it upon them. They didn't have a relationship, it was only professional. At least that's what she kept telling herself.

''Ms. Potts?''

Pepper turned to see Natalie looking at her with a concerned expression. ''Sorry, were you talking to me?''

''Just wondering if you need anything when we leave the jet.''

''No, I don't think so.'' Pepper shrugged. ''How long until the Expo begins?''

Natalie glanced at her watch. ''We have about two hours. Would you like me to reserve a table for a dinner?''

Pepper thought to herself about the idea. Usually if they were on a business flight, Tony would have a table reserved for them to have dinner before any meeting or event, even it meant they were late most of the time. It made her smile to think about their time together, but it saddened her to think that those times were over.

''Sure.'' Pepper told her with a smile. ''For three.''

''Of course.''

As Natalie began typing away at her laptop, reserving their seats at the usual restaurant, Pepper kept thinking to herself about why she was feeling this way all of a sudden. Maybe it was the fact that Tony was completely alone for these past few days, or that he had tried to come and talk to her and she treated him so rudely. She didn't know what it was, but she couldn't help miss him being around. Of course, he had caused many problems since his party. All of the problems which had to be fixed and dealt with by Pepper since she was CEO. Having to defend him against the reporters even though she was just as mad at him and agreed with everything they said, all except for one. They had said that he was incapable of protecting the people, but that's all he ever did and Pepper wasn't going to let them have that. She knew how much he put into helping others, she knew because she was the one up late at nights pretending to finish up paperwork, waiting for him to come home safely so that she could have a peaceful night's sleep knowing he was okay.

She just wanted to see him, give him a chance to talk to her and apologize like he was going to earlier, a chance to tell her things that he had been refusing to lately. Pepper pulled her cell phone out and scrolled down to Tony's number, trying to find the courage to press dial, but she couldn't. What would she say? What would he say? Maybe things were better this way for them both, maybe this was how things were meant to be, as much as she disliked the idea, maybe her and Tony weren't meant to be anything more than just professional.

''We're landing soon.'' Natalie informed her.

Pepper put her phone back down, casting the idea from her mind to call Tony. She would think about it tomorrow, a lot, but for now she just wanted to get through the night without feeling guilty, sad or angry, although knowing she wouldn't be able to do that with Tony on her mind, but she just couldn't get rid of him.

* * *

''Go home, I'll take care of this.'' Tony told her, pulling his helmet back down.

For the past ten minutes Rebecca had been telling him of her time in Hammer Industries with Ivan Vanko, hearing about his plans to kill them both and maybe go after who they loved the most. In that case, Tony needed to act fast. He had been a mixture or angry and frustrated while she told him what had happened, and somewhere within her story Ben had been trying to speak with Tony, and so he was filled on on the situation as well.

''No way! I'm not letting you go in there alone. Did you not listen to me? He wants to_ kill_ you.'' Rebecca argued.

''And you too, I'm not going to let him. Just go home and stay there.''

''You're unbelievable. This is crazy, I'm going with you and you can't stop me.''

Tony looked back at her, trying to tell her how serious this was. ''This isn't a game, this guy's dangerous.''

''I know he's dangerous, I was in _there._ I saw the weapons and I heard every word he said, believe me, I _know_ he's dangerous.''

''Good, so we're agreed that you'll be heading home now.''

''No! Do you even listen to-''

''Bec,'' Ben's voice came into focus. ''It's dangerous, _please_ just come back here.''

Tony could have thanked Ben for his support right then, but he knew Rebecca was already angry enough.

''Will everyone please stop treating me like a five year old?'' Rebecca yelled, startling Tony and Ben who was listening in. ''I am not going back home. This guy wants to kill my family, I have just as much reason to go after him as you do, plus he took me!''

Tony couldn't argue against that fact, but he could still argue something. ''You don't know what you're doing! I'm not letting you go anywhere near that guy.''

''Well I seemed to get myself out of some trouble earlier when he tried to kill me.'' she pointed out. ''I know more about his motives than you do, he told me everything.''

''Why would he tell you everything?'' Ben asked, curious. ''I mean, if he knew what he was doing he would've kept it all a secret.''

''He didn't think I'd have an opportunity to tell anyone, he was going to kill me after he told me...but I got out.''

Tony didn't like hearing about the man who was going to kill his daughter, but he needed to know everything that happened so he knew what to do, and that meant he had to listen in on all of the things that happened. Ivan threatening her, telling her he would kill her father right before her, making Tony suffer by using Rebecca against him, he hated hearing it but he knew he had to.

''This is exactly why you have to get out of here.'' Tony told her seriously. ''He knows you know, he's going to come after you first.''

Rebecca shrugged. ''Then let him. Dad, I can do this. Let me do this.'' Tony shook his head disapprovingly. ''You haven't got a choice. If you think I'm going to go home and wait to hear from you while Ivan tries to kill you, you're insane.''

''I don't want you getting hurt.'' he told her softly. ''I know you're not a five year old anymore, but I'll never like the idea of you putting yourself in danger like this.'

Rebecca nodded understandingly. ''I know that, but if Ivan wants to kill us both, then we're both fighting against him.''

Tony shook his head again, cursing under his breath at the whole idea. ''I don't like it.''

''You don't have to.''

''If he goes for you...''

Rebecca tried to calm his thoughts so she could speak rationally to him. ''He's going to, okay, but we're prepared for that. Please dad, let me do this.''

Ben was listening in on the whole thing, but it was difficult to anticipate his answer given he couldn't see anything. ''What's going on? You're not seriously doing this are you Bec?'' he asked, and Rebecca chose not to answer him, trying to avoid another argument. She knew he was protective of her as well, but she had to do this. ''Tony, please don't tell me this is happening.''

Rebecca looked at her dad was pleading eyes, trying to convince him through a stare. Tony was finding it hard to accept that his daughter could actually do this, but he knew she could. Her whole life she had been just as strong as he was. She had been through so much and picked herself back up again even stronger than before, if there was anything he would doubt, it wasn't her.

''Sorry Ben, but we'll check back in with you later.''

* * *

**Wow, so I hope you guys liked this chapter. It was a bit all over the place, my apologies, but I really wanted you guys to have another update as soon I finished writing it. There was a lot of ways I considered writing Tony's reaction, so I decided to throw a bit of everything in there to show all of the conflicting feelings and how he saw the whole situation, and I hope that all made sense you understand why he grew to accept the suit. I hope to have another chapter up before the New Year, but I can't make any promises. I write fairly quickly, but I suffer writers block all of the time, which sucks because I have so many ideas but just can't write them down. Anyway, please review! I really want to know what you guys think about this story and how it's going now that we're into the 20-something chapter. Thank you for reading! **


	25. Chapter 25

The warehouse of Hammer Industries was empty, there wasn't even a noise in any of the rooms. Tony had gone in first to make sure there wasn't anything inside that was rigged to blow as soon as they came in, having Jarvis run scans. Rebecca followed in behind him despite his protests and made her way over to the room which she remembered opening her eyes to. There was nothing there either, not even a case from his weapons, it was all gone as if he knew they would be coming back and searching the place. What added to Rebecca's concerns was the fact that Lucas was no longer there either. The last time she had seen him he was unconscious on the ground just outside of the door where Ivan knocked him out, but now there was no sign of him.

The place was completely empty, and even the suits he was creating were gone. It slipped her mind for a moment until she really thought about where all of those suits had gone in such little time, but then she remembered an event that was being held in Queens that very night.

''The Expo.'' she looked back at Tony, concerned. ''Ivan made the suits for Hammer, and Hammer is presenting at the Expo, that's where he's taken them.''

''Hammer's going to present the suits for his army.'' Tony concluded, going straight to the main concern. ''I gotta get Rhodey.''

Rebecca seemed taken aback at the sudden shift, having no idea what Rhodey's part in this was. ''Rhodey? I thought you didn't want anyone else in danger.''

Tony was already walking back into the warehouse, determined to try and stop this. ''Hammer is using military tech for his presentation, Rhodey took my suit to the military and now Hammer has control of it, but Rhodey is the only guy who knows how to drive that thing. He's gonna be at the Expo.''

After Tony's brief outline, Rebecca finally understood where everything was in their puzzle. Ivan made the suits for Hammer who would be presenting at the Expo to launch his army, just like he told her he would back in Monaco when he asked her to make them. Ivan had told Rebecca too much though, thinking he would get rid of her before she could tell anyone about his little secret.

''Wait,'' she stopped him. ''They're not suits. Before I got out, Ivan told me he was just humoring Hammer, he wasn't going to make suits for him. They're drones. No one is inside them, they're controlled, like robots.''

''By why would Hammer...'' Tony trailed off, mentally answering his own question. ''He doesn't know. Ivan is the only one who knows...but he told you.''

''You need to find Rhodey.'' Rebecca told him seriously. ''He's going to be the only one in an independent suit, he can help us.''

Tony and Rebecca made their way over to the now huge hole in the warehouse wall. It was initially a smashed out window which they could both fit through one at a time, but in their rush it had crumbled far from a window. They made their way back outside, but Tony stopped on another rooftop before they went any further.

''You stay here.''

''Dad-''

''You can't be seen, okay? There'll be too many questions if you show up at the Expo. I need to go get Rhodey.''

For once, Rebecca nodded in agreement to his words, understanding the risk she would be taking wouldn't just affect her, but land her father in even more trouble with the government.

''Be careful.''

* * *

Rebecca had been hiding on a rooftop for a few minutes before she became anxious. If Ivan was controlling those drones at the Expo, everyone was in danger including Pepper who was attending. There was no point in following behind her father, it was too dangerous for many reasons, but there was no way she could stay here doing nothing while everyone else was doing something to help. She made a decision to head back to the Hammer Industries warehouse, searching absolutely everything for answers.

She was certain that when she and Tony first searched this place that it was empty, but something didn't seem right. Lucas had threatened Ivan with the fact that there was a security team upstairs that he could call down with a single click of a button, but there was no sign of anyone when they arrived. Rebecca walked around the warehouse, still in her suit in case anything happened, and she couldn't find anything. The room where Ivan was remained empty, but the stairs behind the room were where she was heading anyway.

As she reached the top of the stairs, Rebecca let out a horrified gasp at what she saw. There was three men, all dressed in black security uniforms, unconscious on the floor, blood surrounding their bodies. That's when her body went into panic mode and she used the applications in her suit to scan the room for anyone that may be inside. There was a significant focus on one of the cupboards in the room, and the door looked like it was wedged open by something big inside, so Rebecca walked over to investigate. The closer she got, the more anxious she was so see what was hiding, so she gripped the sturdy door and ripped it off the hinges.

''Stop!'' The person yelled, cowering inside of the cupboard and pointing a gun. ''Don't kill me!'' It took a few moments for Rebecca to see that it was Lucas, his expression terrified. He didn't know who it was inside of the suit, for all he knew it was Tony himself. ''W-where's Ivan?''

Rebecca debated whether or not she should answer him, but it was her only choice if she wanted answers. ''Gone.'' she told him, watching as his eyes scanned the room to make sure he really was out of sight. ''What happened?''

Lucas sat up, pulling himself out of the tiny space. ''H-he killed them. I woke up and he was...I pressed this button and these three came in, but he just killed them.''

''You woke up and he was...what?'' Rebecca asked.

''He was tearing this place apart.'' he told her, looking frightened at the memory. ''Going crazy, breaking everything, and then he set those...suit things up, but that's when I pressed the security button.''

Rebecca understood what had happened now. His anger at the fact that she had escaped and gotten away know exactly what he was planning to do had driven him into a rage, and these security guards had suffered his wrath. She didn't want to look over to the bodies again, she hated seeing what Ivan had done. This wasn't something little anymore, it wasn't about threats or words, Ivan had actually taken lives to get what he wanted. Rebecca knew he was a dangerous man, but this just proved something else. It proved he was prepared to do whatever it took to take down Rebecca and Tony, mercilessly killing innocent people who got in his way.

''How long ago did this happen?'' she asked Lucas, gaining his attention again as he continued looking around the room.

''I don't know, an hour ago maybe, I can't remember, I was dizzy.'' he explained, rubbing his head. ''Who are you, anyway?''

That was one answer she wasn't going to give him. ''I'm trying to help.''

''But who _are _you?'' he looked at her with curiosity. ''You don't sound like Tony Stark.''

Rebecca shook her head to tell him no, that's not who she was. ''I'm just looking for answers to stop this guy.''

Lucas nodded, but his eyes didn't move. He was analyzing the suit and who could be in it, his first thought being Ivan himself, but then he soon moved on to think it was Justin Hammer. After all, Hammer was obsessed with getting his hands on one of these suits, but the voice didn't fit either. It was a female's voice, there was no mistaking it, and Lucas then had it narrowed down to one name. The one person who knew how to make these suits without anyone's help.

''Rebecca,'' he spoke. ''It's you, isn't it?'' She didn't say anything after that, she knew there was no use denying it but there was no way she was admitting it either. He would have to assume things for himself. ''It is.''

''Where's Ivan?'' she asked.

''How did you even get out?'' he asked her with keen interest. ''There was no way you were supposed to escape. He was going to kill you!''

''I need to know where he might be, Lucas.''

''This is crazy. That can't be you...'' he shook his head in disbelief.

Rebecca was getting frustrated. ''Just tell me what you know, Lucas!''

''No way! If Hammer finds out I told you-''

Rebecca moved closer and grabbed his shirt collar, lifting him easily up against the wall thanks to the added strength of the suit. ''Do you really think Hammer _cares_ about you anymore? He left you here to guard a maniac, fully aware that he was going to kill you as well. He doesn't care what you do anymore, for all he knows you're dead, and if you were smart you'd tell me everything you know right now before you pissed me off a little more, okay?''

* * *

Ben was sitting at Tony's desk, waiting for a word back from either of them, but as time went on he just become more and more anxious, he couldn't put up with it. He tried getting in contact with Tony, but he never answered and that only made Ben worry even more. He only just found out that Rebecca had a suit, the one that had scared him earlier when it flew out of the ground and through the wall on it's way to her. He had no idea why she would need one, but then again he wasn't sure of anything in their lives anymore. Even though Rebecca had warned him, he had been thrown into their chaotic life and he now realized why Rebecca gave him that choice when they first started seeing each other, but even though it was far from his usual routine of delivering pizzas, he wasn't going to back out now when things were a bit more complicated than usual.

Ben typed a few codes into the computer, and 10 minutes later he had finally hacked his way into Rebecca's system and was able to communicate with her, he hoped.

''Bec? Bec, are you there?'' he asked.

There was a pause, and Ben thought it wasn't working until he heard her voice. ''Ben? Hello?''

''Yeah, it's me.'' Ben smiled, happy to hear her voice. ''What's going on?''

Rebecca sounded out of breath. ''The Expo...he's gone to find Rhodey.''

''What's happening?''

''I gotta go find Ivan.'' she told him. ''He's planning to kill my dad, I know where he is.''

Ben jumped out of his chair. ''No, no, Bec you can't go alone! You know what this guy is capable of-''

''Yeah, I do, there's three dead security guards at Hammer Industries for proof.''

''Dead? He_ killed_ them?'' he asked, knowing the answer but in shock that this man actually took their lives. ''You can't do this.''

''I have to, Ben, I know what he's going to do.''

''How do you know? You could be doing exactly what he wants you to do!''

Rebecca sighed. ''I went back and found Lucas. He told me everything, and I know it was the truth because he's scared.''

''Lucas? The guy that has helped kidnap you two times now and was standing around waiting for Ivan to kill you only hours ago, that Lucas?''

''Yes, that Lucas.'' she told him firmly, knowing that Ben thought this whole idea was stupid of her.

''How can you _trust _that guy? He's probably sending you straight to him like Ivan would have told him to. Bec, please don't do this.''

''Ben, I have to. If I don't find him and stop him now he _will _kill my dad and I'm not letting him.''

''But if you go there now, by yourself...he'll kill you.'' Rebecca remained silent as Ben spoke, knowing everything he was saying was true but she was too determined to stop Ivan before he had his chance. ''Think about what you're doing.''

''I can't let him do it Ben...'' she told him in a calm voice, trying to let him know she knew what she was doing. ''I can try and stop it-''

''No! This guy is _crazy, _okay? He's not going to listen to you, he's not going to bargain with you, he's going to get what he wants like he always does. I'm asking you, _please _don't do this.''

Rebecca thought about it for a few moments, but her stubborn mind was set. ''I'm sorry Ben...if I don't do this and something happens I'll never get over it. I have to do this, I'm sorry.''

Ben slammed his fist against the desk. ''Bec, listen to me!'' he yelled, but the line was dead, she had disconnected their call. ''Bec? Dammit!''

There was no way he could continue sitting here while she was doing something so stupid and dangerous. She was going to get herself killed and he wasn't going to let that happen, he needed to find her. He turned around the to computer screen and noticed something pop up in the corner. Tony had his computers altered so that whenever there was something going on involving Iron Man, it would automatically play on screen for him to see. Ben opened the little box in the corner and it brought up live footage from The Stark Expo.

_''It looks like Iron Man _is _appearing tonight after all, against the word of Stark Industries CEO Pepper Potts. Tony Stark's Iron Man arrived not too long ago and greeted the audience with in his famous metal suit.''_

The reporter's voice stopped, and the audio went dead, but the footage was still live. Ben saw glass falling from the ceiling and Rhodey's suit shooting uncontrollably, the crowd running about in fear of what was happening. He looked at the screen in concern, trying to figure out what was happening but there was no use when the screen went blank moments later. Everyone was in danger, and he was still sitting in Tony's workshop. He stood up, grabbing his keys and rushing to the front door. He needed to do something, he needed to help someone.

* * *

Tony flew out of the ceiling of the Stark Expo, followed by Rhodey and a swarm of other suits that he had been informed weren't really suits. They were being controlled by Hammer, wherever he was. His earlier assumptions had been wrong about Rhodey though. He was the only one in the suit, but it wasn't independent from the rest like he thought, he was being controlled by Ivan as well, his suit targeting Tony as they flew.

Tony had managed to briefly explain to Rhodey what was going on, but they didn't have time to do anything about it before Ivan set off the suits to attack him. They flew into the skies, Tony trying to lose them as he had much more experience than they did and driving one of these things.

''Tony!'' Rhodey yelled. ''It won't stop shooting!''

''Ivan's controlling it!'' he told him. ''Just try and watch where you're going.''

''I can't control that either!'' he told him in return. ''Look out!'' Tony ducked just in time for a missile to fly past him. ''It's locked on the target!''

''What target?''

''You! He's aiming for you and I can't stop it!''

Tony cursed Ivan, who was making Rhodey's suit as well as all the rest chase him with bullets and explosives, but he continued flying, trying to take the danger away from the Expo where everyone was now evacuating.

* * *

Meanwhile, Pepper was trying to figure out what was happening. Those suits had just chased Tony out of the building and she wanted to know why. Natalie accompanied her through to the back control room where Justin Hammer was, trying to find out what was going on also. Pepper never liked this man, but the fact that this all happened while he was presenting something just fueled her hate toward him, knowing there was something of his doing behind all of this.

''What the hell is going on?'' Pepper asked as she walked in, seeing Hammer looking back at her.

''Listen, ladies,'' he looked back and forth between Pepper and Natalie. ''We're handling this, let us handle this, okay? We know what we're doing.''

''Doesn't seem like it, otherwise this wouldn't of happened. Now, what's going on?'' Pepper stood her ground.

Hammer rolled his eyes and whispered into one of the men's ears. ''We gotta get these bitched out of here.''

Since subtlety really wasn't one of Hammer's traits, both Pepper and Natalie glared at his as he looked up innocently, but Natalie took it one step further, sick of Hammer not giving them answers and treating them like idiots. She walked over behind Hammer, grabbed his arms and twisted them behind his back painfully.

''Tell me who's behind this?'' she asked, but he only made slight noises of discomfort as she tightened her hold on his arms. ''Who's behind this?'' she asked again. Pepper watched on, completely shocked at the lengths to which Natalie was going for answers.

Hammer squirmed in pain. ''Ivan!'' he shouted. ''Ivan Vanko.''

Natalie didn't loosen her grip though, not until she had her answers. ''And where is he?''

When Hammer finally answered her and told her his location, Natalie pushed him forward onto the desk with force, hitting his head against the hard surface before walking out of the room, knowing Pepper could handle things in here now that she had a much more important task ahead of her. Pepper watched her leave with a nod of the head, assuring her she was fine here, and she pulled her phone to her ear.

''Yes, hi,'' she spoke, and Hammer looked up at what she was doing. ''I need police at-''

''Oh honey, don't call the authorities, don't be stupid,'' Hammer whined, blocking her from getting past him to speak with one of the men working in the control room.

''Step aside,'' she told him firmly, holding the phone to her ear, awaiting a reply. ''Step aside.'' She walked over behind one of the workers at his desk and lowered her head to see the screen he was using. ''Tell me everything you know. Go.''

* * *

**Hey guys, hope you had a happy new year! Also, I hope you enjoyed this chapter since I know it took me a while to update. I'm not a fan of this chapter, I don't know why, I just don't like it but I'm always so whiny anyway just ignore my rambling. Hopefully I'll have the next chapter up sooner than later. Please review! Thanks for reading. **


	26. Chapter 26

Rebecca had been sidetracked for a while when she thought about what Ben was saying. Lucas could easily be setting her up, he had no reason to help her and he still had his chance to help Hammer even though it was now pointless. She didn't know whether or not she should keep following the trail that Lucas had told her to follow or stop what she was doing and wait for her father like she was advised to do. However, as she neared the Stark Expo she slowed down, knowing she shouldn't be there, but a few moments later she saw Iron Man flying out of the glass ceiling, and it didn't look good. She could hear the screams of everyone inside, and at first she though that Ivan Vanko had shown up and done something horrible, but soon enough her dad was being chased by the same suits she had seen at Hammer Industries.

''Dad?'' she spoke, hoping his device was turned on. ''Dad! Can you hear me!''

''Little busy at the moment,'' he replied, his voice sounding out of breath.

''I know, I can see that.'' her eyes followed him soaring through the sky. ''What's going on?''

''What? Where are you?''

''It doesn't matter, fill me in.''

''I would if I could, but I don't know either. I'm gonna take a wild guess and say Vanko's behind this, the drones or whatever are all locked on to target me.''

Rebecca watched on anxiously. ''How are we supposed to stop them?''

''I don't know, find the power source I guess, I'm a little preoccupied on getting Rhodey back, his suit's being controlled as well. You should go somewhere safe, this isn't going to end anytime soon.'' he told her.

''I'm not going anywhere. I'm going to try and stop this.'' she told him with confidence.

''No, Bec, Ivan is doing this and I don't want you anywhere near him.''

''But I _know_ where he is...I think.''

''I don't care, I don't want you going there alone.'' he paused for a moment. ''Rhodey! What's going on? Bec, I gotta take care of this but please don't go hunting down Ivan, it's too dangerous.''

Rebecca knew he had more important things to deal with right now than worrying if she would go running off, so she humored him and agreed to stay safe so that he could focus on not getting hit by the drones.

''Fine, I won't.''

She couldn't sit around though, not when she knew where Ivan was and knew how to stop him. Lucas had told her and although he couldn't be trusted, she had never seen him so scared before and she could trust his fear. Lucas was someone that did things under pressure or threat, to please people, and since Ivan had literally killed three people in front of Lucas, he was severely threatened. He wanted Ivan stopped, and Rebecca could trust that. She had to, it was her only hope if she wanted all of this madness to end.

''Ben?'' she spoke, hoping he could hear he back at the workshop. ''Ben? Ben! Are you there?''

Rebecca let out a frustrated groan, she just wanted to know what was going on and where everyone was, now she had more to worry about. She set her mind to finding Ivan, and then she glanced back at Iron Man being chased through the skies. She could stop this, no one would have to get hurt and everything would be okay if she found Vanko and stopped his control. She could do it.

* * *

Ben sped down the highway, ignoring all of the horns blaring around him at his erratic driving, his mind was set on something and there was no stopping him. He drove around bends on streets as if he was in an action movie, accelerating until he could see the building he was looking for. As soon as he arrived, he pulled his keys out of the ignition and ran inside. There was glass everywhere before the door and he looked up to see a busted window and a massive hole in the wall, knowing what it was from.

He was in Hammer Industries, and he was in search of one particular person. The door at the side of the building led around many corridors before bringing him to a warehouse where he instantly knew Tony and Rebecca had been. There was no sign of anyone, but he was going to walk out with no answers. There was a small room over by a staircase, just below it, and he strode over in an intimidating way to push the door open with force. There was a frightened yell for a moment as Lucas cowered in the corner.

Ben looked at the other boy, assuming it was him. ''You must be Lucas.''

Lucas looked back in shock. ''Who the hell are you?'' he shook his head. ''What the hell is going on?''

Ben couldn't help notice just how scared Lucas was, but that didn't stop him from putting on his bravest face and getting straight to the point of why he came here in the first place. He knew what Lucas had done, he had been the one to take Rebecca and get her into this mess, happily agreeing to stand by and watch her murdered by Ivan Vanko. Ben wasn't much of a bad guy, he could barely speak for himself sometimes, but when it came down to Rebecca, he would do anything, and that's what he did. He didn't flinch, his expression was blank and he didn't give off any sign that he himself was frightened of what Lucas would do.

''Where's Rebecca?'' he asked in a firm voice.

Lucas shook his head. ''Who are you!''

Ben walked over cornered him. ''Where is she?''

Lucas shoved him back, obviously not appreciating the breach of his personal space. ''Hey, back off! You tell me who you are and I _might _tell you something in return.''

''Ben.''

Lucas thought to himself for a moment. ''Oh, so _you're _the boyfriend.'' he nodded. ''How's that going by the way? It's a shame things didn't work out between me and her, she sure is one fine girl, Rebecca.'' Lucas grinned, trying to intimidate Ben. ''Did she not tell you about us? Oops.''

Ben knew what he was doing, or at least he thought. Rebecca would have told him if she had been in a relationship before him since they had spoken about that many times, but maybe she just wanted to hide this one. No, there was no way. Rebecca would have told him, he knew it, this guy was just trying to get the edge on him.

''Where is she?''

''Something tells me you already know. So why are you asking me?''

''Something tells me_ you're_ lying. Why would you help her when Hammer is relying on you? From what I've heard you're his little bitch, so I doubt you'd actually tell Rebecca the truth.''

Lucas's grin faded. ''I don't care about what Hammer wants from me anymore, I could care less.''

''Fine, then where is Rebecca?''

''Now? She's probably almost at one of Hammer's offices trying to find Vanko.'' Lucas shrugged.

''Where is that?''

''Now, why would I tell you? I think I've been more than honest with enough people today.''

Ben walked over to him and grabbed around his shirt, reaching his frustration level and snapping. ''Where is she Lucas? If you think I'm an idiot then think again 'cause I'm not leaving until I get what I came for.''

Lucas laughed. ''Oh, and what's that?''

''Answers.'' he shoved Lucas into the wall, watching as he winced in pain. ''So you'd better start talking.''

''Who the hell do you think you are?'' Lucas laughed. ''You can't just step in and try and be a hero, you're walking into things that are bigger than you know. Metal suits, crazy-ass Russian men and an obsessive weapons developer who wants all of that to himself. What could you possibly do to help _anyone_ right now?''

Ben had already gone over everything Lucas was telling him anyway. He knew he was the disadvantage in this whole thing, after all he didn't have anything he could offer to help. Not when things had became so crazy today.

''You wouldn't have a clue what I could do.'' Ben shoved him again. ''Now, where's Vanko at?''

Lucas just shook his head in laughter before pushing back against Ben. It was forceful and knocked Ben to the ground. ''You're so blind to the fact that you cannot help anyone whatsoever right now.''

Ben pulled himself up, looking at Lucas angrily. ''I wasn't the one hiding out in this room, screaming at a shadow.''

''You're so clueless to everything.'' he threw his hands up. ''Maybe I _will _tell you where Ivan is, that way you'll learn just how in over your head you are.''

''Great, so where is it?'' Ben walked closer to him, pushing him back onto the wall again.

''It's about ten minutes from here, not far.'' Lucas pretended to think to himself before he gave Ben the location, thinking he would probably get himself killed when he got there anyway. ''Now, is that all you wanted?''

Ben nodded, but he paused as he was about to turn away from Lucas, bringing his fist around to hit him. Lucas fell to the ground in pain, holding his nose where Ben had hit, making it bleed down his face. Ben didn't know he was actually capable of making someone bleed, especially in such a violent way, but he wasn't sorry, Lucas deserved it.

''What the hell! I told you where he was!'' Lucas yelled, his voice muffled by his hands that held his face.

''That's for everything you've done to Rebecca.'' Ben told him. ''If you come near her ever again, and if you ever hurt her again in any way I would suggest leaving the country and never coming back, got it?''

Ben walked out of the room feeling happy with the way he handled things. He was in no way a violent person or even a mean person, but when he saw Lucas all of that changed with the hate he had for him. He should think himself lucky that Ben found him and not Tony, but Ben could care less about what happened to Lucas. He walked back out to his car and with the location of Vanko now in his knowledge, he sped back onto the road in hopes to find Rebecca.

* * *

''You sure you know what you're doing?'' Happy asked as he stopped the car outside of a Hammer Industries building, the one which Hammer had directed Natalie to.

Natalie got out of the car, now dressed in her Shield uniform which was a black catsuit equipped with numerous weapons which made Happy think that she wasn't just a personal assistant. There were guns strapped to her waist and legs by holsters, a belt lined with all sorts of smaller weapons and there were bracelets around her wrists that looked lethal.

''Stay here,'' she advised him.

''No way! You can't go in there alone!'' Happy protested. He was a bodyguard, he couldn't let her walk into this building by herself.

''You want to help?'' she looked at him. ''Keep the car running.''

Happy followed behind her, confident that he could help with whatever was to be faced inside. Happy had no idea she was a Shield agent and was perfectly capable of handling anything on her own. When she was in her Shield uniform, she was deadly serious, and she was no longer Natalie Rushman, she was Natasha Romanoff.

As they entered the building, there was one security guard at the door that was trying to block Natasha getting past, but she easily slipped by him and ran to the other corridors that were full of guards as well. Happy stayed back at the main entrance, throwing punched at the guard that was attacking him. He looked over the man's shoulder and saw that she was gone, probably running through the building now that he had helped get her in, so he continued throwing punches until one of the stopped.

Rebecca had only just reached the building after her slight delay, and she noticed the car that was parked outside. It was Happy's car, there was no mistaking his personalized plates that she had grown so familiar with. Her initial reaction was fear that Ivan had taken them, they were probably in there with him, but she had no idea why they would come here in the first place. She dropped to the ground and moved to the door, hoping everything was okay.

''I got him!'' Happy yelled out, looking away from Rebecca and down the hall. Rebecca didn't say anything at first, trying to think of what to say to him. She wasn't expecting to see him right at the entrance, she didn't know how to approach the situation. However, before she could think anymore about it, Happy turned and looked at her in horror. He thought she was one of the drones that Ivan had created, but her suit was more like Tony's rather than those robots, he was confused. ''W-what the...''

''Don't worry, it's just me.'' Rebecca told him, watching as his eyes widened. Although her father had advised her not to let her identity be known just yet since it was too dangerous, she could trust Happy with her life.

Happy lip trembled as he searched or words. ''B-bec?''

''Yeah, its' me.'' she nodded. ''I can't explain things just yet. What are you doing here?''

Happy just shook his head in disbelief, but after working for Tony for so long, he soon adjusted to the situation. ''Ivan took over Hammer's suits and Rhodey's.'' he explained breathlessly. ''Natalie's gone to find Ivan.''

''What? Where is he?'' Rebecca asked frantically.

Happy was still shaking his head in shock, but his arm lifted up and pointed down the corridor. ''She went that way...''

Rebecca set off in pursuit of Ms. Rushman, wondering why she was here in the first place trying to stop Ivan. For all Rebecca knew, Natalie was a personal assistant, she wouldn't have a clue what she was doing. There were unconscious guards everywhere, but they were okay, and Rebecca hurried her pace to the room down the corridor, leading straight to the room where Ivan was thought to be. Happy followed quickly behind her.

''He's gone.'' Natasha stated, looking back to see a metal suit instead of Happy, who she thought was following behind her.

Rebecca put her hands up, seeing the danger in Natasha's eyes. ''It's just me,'' she told her. ''Rebecca.''

''What the hell are you doing?'' Natasha asked her angrily.

''Hey, I could ask _you _the same thing!" Rebecca shot back just as angrily.

''I'm trying to stop your father from being killed by his best friend.'' she turned away, walking over to the computers. ''You shouldn't be in that.''

''I would have been dead two hours ago if I wasn't.'' Rebecca told her honestly.

''What?'' Happy asked, shocked again. ''Where were you anyway? Pepper was going crazy.''

''It's...a long story.'' she took off her helmet to speak comfortably.

Natasha turned back to look at her. ''What do you mean you would have been dead?''

Rebecca sighed. ''I woke up in Hammer Industries, Ivan was planning to kill me there and then go for my dad but I got away...barely, thanks to this.'' she tapped against the suit. ''I know it's dangerous, but it saved my life.''

Natasha nodded in understanding and then turned back to the computers, hacking into the system. She didn't need details just now, she just needed to basics so she wasn't so confused by the whole thing.

''Does your dad know?'' Happy asked.

Rebecca nodded. ''Yeah...we'll deal with everything later. Right now we need to get those things back in control and find Ivan.''

''Ivan's long gone,'' Natasha informed, her eyes not moving from the screen. ''His location is unknown but it's impossible to trace him at the moment.''

Rebecca then had to ask. ''What are you, anyway? Police? Undercover agent?''

''Sort of.''

''Sort of what?''

I work for Shield,'' she told her simply. ''You'll be hearing from them soon, no doubt.''

Just as Natasha finished speaking, there were loud footsteps coming down the corridor and they all turned to see Ben running toward them. They were all confused as to why he was here, but they didn't have to wonder long since he began telling them straight away.

''I went over to Hammer Industries...that Lucas kid told me Ivan was here.'' he told them breathlessly.

''So you decided to come here and stop him?'' Rebecca asked in a shocked tone.

Ben shook his head. ''No, I wanted to stop _you_.''

Natasha turned back to the computer screens once again after hearing all the details she wanted. She felt responsible for Rebecca since Shield would be wanting to speak with her now she had an Iron Man suit, but her focus right now was to break Ivan's control over Rhodey's suit.

''There's an attack coming in.'' Natasha spoke, reading the codes. ''Five minutes, and then the drones are going for him.''

Rebecca looked over to her. ''What do you mean? They're already going for him.''

''This is a much bigger party, Ivan must have had others stored for the occasion.''

''How do you stop them?''

''Right now I need to get Rhodey's suit under control, but I don't know how long they're going to hold out under all of those drones coming in.''

Rebecca thought to herself, and it was as if Ben could read her thoughts in that moment. ''No,'' he told her. ''I only just found you, don't leave again.''

''I need to help them,'' she told him. ''There's too many, they need help.''

''You can't be serious. You've been in that suit for a few hours, how do you know you can use it properly?'' he asked, concerned.

''I know I can. I have to do this, they're not gonna be able to do this on their own.''

Ben didn't know what to say back, he knew she wanted to go, but he wished she could see how dangerous it was and what he was worrying about.

''She's right,'' Natasha told him. ''They can't do this on their own. Especially if it's going to take longer to get Rhodey's suit back.''

Rebecca seemed confused. ''Wait, so you think I _should _go?'' she asked.

''I think you'll be able to help them, yes.''

''Don't you care if she gets hurt?'' Ben asked, getting frustrated.

''She's done alright for herself so far, I don't see how it would be a problem.'' Natasha told him calmly. ''But, it _is _up to her...so,''

Ben looked back to Rebecca with pleading eyes. ''Please, think about this.''

''There's no time to _think _about it, I have to do this.'' she told him seriously. ''I'm sorry if you don't like the idea, but I promise I'll be okay. I just want to help my dad.''

Ben understood why she was doing it, and he felt guilty about trying to talk her out of it, but he was protective of her as well and he couldn't help that he worried so much. But then again, if she was brave enough to face Ivan herself, build this suit and use it to save her own life, she could do this, he knew that.

''Don't do anything stupid.'' he told her.

''Well, you know me...I don't really think about things until I'm doing them.'' she shrugged, trying to ease the tension. ''I promise.''

Ben put his hands around the back of her neck and pulled her in for a soft kiss, just because that is all he had been wanting to do all day since he left her.

''Be careful out there,'' Happy told her as she pulled her helmet back on. ''You're dad's probably going to kill me for letting you do this...''

Rebecca shrugged again. ''Who said you knew anything about this?''

Happy grinned, catching onto what she was saying. ''Right, yeah, no idea.''

Rebecca walked out of the room and Ben followed her out to the main entrance, standing with her on the sidewalk. She looked back at him, knowing he couldn't see her face, but she smiled and knew he could tell she was trying to ease his worries, and then she flew up into he air as Ben watched until she was finally gone.

* * *

**Whew, that was a bit of a jumbled chapter, I'll admit. Anyway I hope you guys liked it and I apologize for any confusion when I referred to Natalie and Natasha. I wanted to show that her identity and persona immediately changed when she was 'working' as the Shield agent, so I think I might have referred to her as Natalie and Natasha at the same time, so I apologize and hope you still understood what I was doing. Next chapter will be a bit more exciting! Please review, and thanks for reading!**

**Just a little side note: I know some of you have been wondering if I was going to do an Avengers story that follows on from this and the answer is yes I will be and I intend to do so after this story is completed which will still be a few chapters away yet. I might take a break after this story and then post the Avengers one a few weeks later, but knowing me I will probably post it the next day since I hate to wait! Anyway, I hope you guys will stick with me through to that story as well! Also a thanks to people who have stuck with this story since 'A Change' and have continued to review and read, thanks heaps, I appreciate it more than you know!**


	27. Chapter 27

Once Rebecca made her way to the Stark Expo, it wasn't hard to find where all of the drama was going on. There were loud noises coming from a certain section in the Expo and when Rebecca found what it was, she wasn't surprised. Rhodey's suit still hadn't been fixed, and as a result Tony was fighting him off. The suit kept launching itself at Iron Man and rounds of bullets were being fired at him from a very close distance. She flew down to where they were and without thinking, she gripped her hands around Rhodey's suit and threw him away from them, gaining some time for her father to get up and prepare a defense.

''What the hell are you doing!'' Tony yelled when he saw who was helping him.

''You're welcome.'' Rebecca told him mockingly. ''I'm here because Natalie...or whoever she is now, is trying to get Rhodey's suit back in control and there was no way I wasn't going to come help when there's a swarm of drones heading this way right now.''

Tony fought off bullets that were firing his way again from Rhodey's suit. ''What? There's more?''

''Yeah, Ivan was hiding them.''

''Tony!" Rhodey yelled. ''What are you doing!''

Tony then realized that Rhodey thought Rebecca was one of the drones, since her suit was silver all over like the other ones. ''No, this isn't one of them!''

''Well who is it?''

''It's me!'' Rebecca yelled, shielding herself from the bullets he was spraying at them both.

''Bec?'' he asked. ''What the hell!''

''No time to explain.'' she told him.

''This thing won't stop shooting! It's locked on to both of you!'' he yelled.

''Both of us?'' Tony called back, fighting off the bullets that Rhodey couldn't control. ''Is that thing on a live feed?''

As they fought off the bullets, Tony was distracted when a different voice began talking to him.

''Tony, can you hear me?'' Natasha asked.

Tony tried to dodge as many bullets as he could, avoiding the damage to his suit. ''Word is you're fixing all of this.''

''I see your daughter is there.'' she commented. ''I trust she informed you on the incoming attack.''

''Yeah, thanks for keeping her out of all of this.'' Tony snapped.

''She's stubborn, I guess she gets that from someone.'' Natasha pointed out. ''Anyway, I've disabled Vanko's control over Rhodey's suit. You've got your best friend back.''

Tony felt relieved as he looked back at Rhodey who was now on the ground. ''Thanks.''

Ben was standing next to Natasha, looking over the process that was helping get Rhodey's suit back into control, and he noticed that there was another window up on the other computer. Natasha had set up a web chat with Pepper, who was still at The Expo trying to work with the operators on what was going on. He couldn't help feel terrible about how little Pepper actually knew at this point. She had no idea Rebecca was taken earlier, no idea that she was no in an Iron Man suit fighting against those drones outside of the Expo and she had no idea that Tony was seriously ill lately.

Natalie looked back at the results she had from Tony's suit readings. ''Well done with the new chest piece.'' she complimented. ''I'm reading significantly higher output and your vitals all look promising.''

''Yes, for the moment, I'm not dying. Thank you.''

That's when Ben noticed Pepper listening in on her side of the webcam. ''What do you mean you're not dying? Did you just say you're dying?''

''Is that you?'' Tony picked up her voice. ''No, I'm not. Not anymore.''

''What's going on?'' Pepper panicked.

''I was going to tell you, I didn't want you to alarm you-''

''You were going to tell me? You really were dying?'' Everyone could here the panic and worry in her voice.

''You didn't let me.''

''Why didn't you tell me that?''

''I was going to make you an omelet and tell you.'' he defended.

''Hey, hey. Save it for the honeymoon.'' Natasha interrupted. ''You got incoming, Tony. Looks like the fight's coming to you.''

''Great. Pepper?'' Tony asked, seeing if she was still listening in.

''Are you okay now?'' she asked hesitantly.

''I'm fine. Don't be mad, I will formally apologize-''

''I am mad!'' she raised her voice, cutting him off.

''-when I'm not fending off a Hammeroid attack!''

''Fine.'' Pepper relented.

The three of them sat in the room awkwardly as they listened in on their little argument, knowing that if Pepper actually knew what was going on she would be freaking out a whole lot more. Happy just sat silently, hoping everything was going alright and that no one was hurt as Natasha finished off what she had to do on the computers. Fury would want a word with her soon, in fact he was probably watching on right now.

''I need to go to Pepper,'' Ben turned to Happy.

Happy nodded his head. ''Yeah, I should probably go get her-''

''No,'' Ben shook his head. ''I'll do it. Someone needs to tell her what's going on, and I've lied to her too many times today to not be the one to do that.''

Happy sighed. ''I get it, but this isn't your fault, don't blame yourself.''

''I told her everything was fine, when it was getting out of control. I let her believe nothing was wrong, and now she's still in the dark about everything. I need to go explain things to her, otherwise when this is all over, Pepper's not going to be happy.''

''You're a good kid,'' Happy smiled. ''I'm glad Bec's got you in her life. We're all glad.''

That meant a lot to Ben at that moment. ''Call me crazy, but I think _I'm _the lucky one.''

* * *

Rebecca didn't know exactly what she was doing when she aimed and fired at one of the drones that was coming at her. She hadn't actually fired at someone before, and although these drones weren't really people, it was a whole lot different to shooting towards a wall or something pointless. Tony was shielding her from most of his, but he was getting hit pretty badly by the bullets that the drones were firing, and Rebecca tried to move away from him to fight for herself.

''Bec! Watch out!'' Rhodey called, seeing that she was walking backwards into a drone.

However, Rebecca knew that she was doing that and as she closed in on the drone, she ducked and let it swing it's metal arms over her head before she hit it with her fist, instantly stabbing a missile it's it's core and kicking it away. Soon, it was blown up in flames and no longer a threat. Rhodey continued on with his fighting and Tony did so as well, although he couldn't help thinking how Rebecca came up with these weapon ideas. They were different to his. They were more powerful in the way that they could be easily launched without much notice, the whole suit seemed to be designed for stealth.

''I got it,'' she told him. ''Look out!'' she shouted to Tony, who only just managed to grab the arm of a drone that was aiming for him and slam him fist back into it's helmet.

''Got it,'' Tony told her in return.

''These things just keep on coming!'' Rhodey shouted, tossing one of the drones into the ground. ''Nothing's holding them off!''

Tony looked over to see if Rebecca was still okay, and he saw her using her suit to defend off the drones. She had her arms outstretched, each one pointing a different direction but both aimed at two drones. Under the wrist piece on the suit, three small missiles dropped and launched toward the drones, and as they attached, Rebecca kicked them further away, detonating the missiles and terminating the drones for good.

Although she was handling everything very well, Tony would never get used to seeing her have to defend herself against these things in a metal suit, and hated that she had to do it. Natasha was right, she was too stubborn to listen to anyone's protests and she probably did get that from Tony himself.

Tony had enough of these endless drones coming their way, and he finally decided to use his most powerful weapon. He had been holding off since it could only be used once, but these things weren't stopping and he had to do something about it.

''Get down!" he called out, turning to make sure both Rhodey and Rebecca heard. ''Stay down!''

Tony lifted his arms out, activating the laser he had in both hands and spun his arms around, cutting through all of the drones that were coming their way, stopping them instantly. Once he saw all of them drop to the ground, he stopped and deactivated the lasers, watching them fall to the ground, now useless. There was a pause of silence among them as they realized what had happened. The drones had stopped.

''I think you should lead with that next time.'' Rhodey commented on the impressive weapon.

''Yeah,'' Tony finally let out a relieved breath. ''Can only use it once though.'' he turned and looked at them both. ''You okay?

''Yeah, I'm fine.'' Rebecca told him. ''Is there any more?''

Tony looked around them. ''I don't know, but I'm sure if there is, they're on their way now.''

* * *

Ben arrived at Stark Expo not long after he had left Happy and Natasha, running into the building in search of Pepper. He could hear shots being fired somewhere, but he kept his mind on finding Pepper, knowing if he thought about what was going on any more he would drive himself crazy. He had been thinking how Pepper would react for most of his drive, thinking she would yell and scream and maybe even hit him since he was the one who had lied to her and ultimately stood by as Rebecca went right out into the middle of this whole thing.

''This us authorized personnel only.'' The guard told him when he reached the door.

Ben sighed. ''Really? I'm here to stop all this robot bullshit, and you're not going to let me in?'' The guard looked around, trying to figure out where he should let Ben in after all. Everyone had been in such a panic about what was going on, and he hated to admit that he was a little scared as well, and if this guy could help, he wasn't about to stop him. Almost everyone was gone anyway. He backed away and let Ben through. ''Thank you, sir.''

Ben continued through the corridors, searching for the room that he knew Pepper would be in with the operators. He found it a while later, but he was cautious to enter since there were now police officers escorting Justin Hammer out of the room.

''Oh, this is great! I see what you're doing honey,'' Hammer looked back to Pepper. ''Now you're starting to think like a CEO, it's good.'' The police grabbed his arms and dragged him away since he was reluctant to walk out. ''I'll get my revenge on you one day Potts!''

Ben stood outside as Hammer was escorted away, glaring at him disgustedly as he passed him. He hated Justin Hammer, for not only what he had done to Rebecca but to Tony and Pepper and anyone else who had to suffer because of his greed. Seeing him being taken away by police officers made him feel better, as if he was finally getting what he deserved after all he did.

Ben continued into the room, seeing Pepper standing off to the side as she took a break from watching over the operators.

''Ben?'' she looked over to see him. ''What are you doing here? Don't you know what's going on?''

Ben sighed, feeling worse. ''Actually, I do.''

Pepper looked confused. ''Why would you come here then?''

''I was looking for you, we need to talk.''

She took them over to a more private area to speak. ''What's going on?''

''I just want to apologize in advance for everything...I've lied to you and I feel terrible, but we couldn't risk you being targeted as well.''

Pepper shook her head. ''You're scaring me right now, what's wrong? Is everyone okay?''

Ben ran his hand through his hair, dreading this conversation. ''Just, let me explain everything and it will all work itself out in the end, okay? No one's hurt, but there's things you need to know.'' he assured before Pepper braced herself.

* * *

''Natalie- I mean Natasha, you still there?'' Tony asked as they were standing around in the same area, looking out from anymore incoming drones.

''For a few more minutes, but that's it.'' she told him. ''What do you need?''

''Should I expect any more of these things?''

Natasha pulled up the radar she had been looking at earlier. ''Hmm,''

''What? Is there more?''

''There's something...I'm not sure.'' she told him. ''It's similar to a drone...but it's giving out a whole different power level.''

''Tell me what you're seeing.''

''It's not a drone, it's heavily armed and...someone's in it. It's a suit, Tony.'' she told him confidently. ''I think it's Ivan Vanko.''

Tony looked around, trying to see the object Natasha was talking about. ''How far out is he?''

''Not far. Be careful Stark, this guy's got weapons all over him and those whips he had at Monaco.'' she warned.

''Great.'' he groaned.

''I'll try and deactivate Vanko's power source on his reactor, but I can't guarantee anything. He's going to bring the big guns, so prepare yourself.''

Tony looked over to Rhodey and Rebecca, who had heard the whole thing and what was about to happen, and they looked back at him for an answer, some guidance as to what they should do when Vanko arrived.

''You need to go,'' he told Rebecca.

''No, I have as much right as you to be here.'' she defended. ''I can help.''

Tony shook his head. ''He's crazy, I don't know what he's going to do and he wants to kill us both, and we're right here waiting for him.''

''I don't care, we'll fight back.'' she spoke confidently. ''I'm not leaving, okay? This guy has done way too much to me today and I deserve to be here.''

Tony sighed. ''I don't want you getting hurt.''

''I won't-''

Rebecca was cut off by the sound of something coming through the air, and when they each turned, they weren't surprised to see a larger, metal suit flying their way. It was Vanko, they could see the whips dangling from his arms, not activated yet, but still just as intimidating. Tony walked closer to Rebecca, trying to shield her from him in case he attacked straight away. Instead he just lowered himself to the ground and lifted his helmet to show his face, grinning back at them all.

''It's good to be back.''

* * *

**Hmm, I think this chapter is a bit shorter than the others but I promise the next chapter will be longer and more exciting. I hope you enjoyed this one! Please review, and thanks for reading!**


	28. Chapter 28

They all stared back blankly at Vanko, trying to analyse what he about to do. He wasn't going to stand there and talk with them, no, he had serious weapons and he intended on using them against each one of them. He didn't know the person in the other suit, Rhodey, but he was united with the people he wanted to kill, and he instantly became an enemy also.

''How's it going Tony?'' Ivan smiled. ''How is that palladium poisoning in your chest feeling?''

''Oh, it's terrible, thanks for asking.'' Tony answered. ''How are you, on the other hand? Death seems to be treating you well.''

''I like to think of it more as a rebirth.'' Vanko laughed.

Tony smiled, trying not to show him any hint of intimidation. ''Nice suit.''

Ivan nodded, moving closer to them, but as he did so, Tony moved in front of Rebecca again, making sure she was out of his line of attack. She was in a metal suit, but he still couldn't help standing in front of her to make sure she was safe. Ivan noticed, and he looked straight over to Rebecca with a grin on his face, taking note of the missing metal on her suit from earlier.

''I see that little grenade worked.'' he smiled.

''Not as well as you hoped.'' she shook her head.

''Tony, you have no need to protect her, she is more than capable of taking care of herself.'' he told him, looking back at Rebecca. ''Aren't you?''

None of them spoke, just staring at Ivan, wondering what is angle was. He stepped closer, obviously going for behind Tony where Rebecca was, although he was only looking to intimidate them and make them angry, which was working thanks to the fact that had spend the last hour fighting off metal drones sent by him as well as Rhodey being a human puppet in his metal suit while Vanko controlled his movements and guns.

''Relax.'' Ivan chuckled. ''You're too protective of her. She can defend herself, isn't that right?'' he moved toward her again.

Tony stepped out in front of him. ''Touch her and you're dead.''

Ivan smirked. ''I don't think it's you who should be making threats.''

''Well what are you gonna do about it?'' Tony shrugged. ''You have your little drones try and fight your battle for you, failed. Do you really think you'll get any further with this little plan?''

''You have no idea what my plan is.''

''I think I do.'' he nodded. ''It's not hard to catch on.''

Ivan stood tall in front of Tony. ''You are going to see the world in a new light. You won't be admired anymore, you will be looked at in disgust, and in hate, just like my family was, as I will expose you for the murderer and coward that you are.''

''Difference is Ivan,'' Tony shook his head. ''Everything about your family was true.''

With that, Ivan lowered his helmet and it was obvious he was ready for a fight against Iron Man himself. He was going to kill him and Rebecca, ending the Stark name and taking down everyone else with it, making Tony out to be a murderer.

''Go!'' Tony turned to Rebecca. ''Now!''

''No! I'm not leaving!'' she protested.

Ivan's whips were not charged, and they all steered clear of the distance to which he could hit them. Rhodey stood back and guarded himself, looking out for Tony and Rebecca as well. The whips lashed out at them from all angles, causing them to fly into the air to escape them, but Ivan was quicker and he managed to wrap one of the whips around Rhodey's leg, pulling him back down.

''Rhodey!'' Rebecca called back, watching as he smashed into the hard ground.

''I'm fine,'' he assured, rolling onto his side. ''Those things are powerful.''

''Damn right they are,'' Tony commented, flying back down to fight.

He hammered his fist down onto Ivan's head as Rhodey moved in and shot at him, trying to lower his guard. It was no use, Ivan had been prepared for everything they were going to throw at him. Rebecca, however, didn't know what she should do. She had never fought in the suit before, she didn't know what she should use or how to attack, but she needed to help and so she flew down and followed Tony's actions, throwing her metal fists.

''Look out for the whips!'' Rhodey warned.

Bullets weren't doing anything, and neither was hitting against the metal, they needed to bring in ammunition. But Ivan had ammo as well, more than they thought even though Natasha had warned them.

''Get back,'' Tony told them, aiming at Ivan with missile launchers in his arms.

They implanted themselves onto Ivan's suit, but he easily removed them and threw them back at the three others, the missiles exploding around them. He had rocket launchers in his suit, and he pointed them at Rhodey first.

''You think you're the only one who can invent things, Tony?'' Ivan laughed. ''Think again.''

The rocket launched, hitting Rhodey in the metal surrounding his stomach, pushing him backwards and onto the ground. Rhodey quickly sat back up, aiming his guns at Ivan and releasing hundreds of bullets, hoping to slow him down. Tony fired more missiles, but it was no use either. It was as if everything they were doing was being thrown back at them with double force, they weren't winning.

Rebecca stood by, thinking about one of her suit attachments that could help. It was in her wrists, just below the missile launcher she had as well. It would be risky, and she could only do it once, but it might work, and she wasn't going to stand by and watch Ivan take down her father and Rhodey, she was going to do whatever she could.

She flew up into the air, noticing that none of them saw she was gone, which meant Ivan was not alert to the fact he was now vulnerable to attack. Rebecca soared down through the sky, landing on Ivan's back as the attachments on her wrists pierced into his suit. It was a bugging device. As soon as the tips touched the inside of his suit where all of the electrical work was, it shut it down slowly, deteriorating his abilities while it also ran through every part of the suit, disabling all of the insides. Rebecca designed it for emergencies, if she was ever in a situation where she was trapped or there was a bomb, this attachment could completely shut anything down in a matter of seconds, depending on the power.

''Bec! Get down!'' Tony called, horrified at her position as Ivan reached behind and grabbed her.

Her wrists were stuck in the metal suit, so she couldn't escape, and soon she was in his hands.

''You have been in my way for far too long,'' Ivan told her, furious as to what she had done.

She squirmed, but she couldn't move. His metal hands were crushing her armor, slowly breaking down to her arms.

''Flares!'' she called out to the suit, and soon Ivan was covered in red sparks as they got in his way, but he never lost his grip.

''It's time you learnt your lesson!'' he yelled, raising her up higher and slamming her into the concrete beneath.

The suit was strong, and she lifted herself to escape, but was quicker once again. He grabbed her, throwing her into the air and with his whips he pulled her back down, slamming into the ground repeatedly until her armor looked ruined. Tony ran out in front of him, trying to take the impact instead, but Ivan only knocked him away long enough to grab her again. Just when Rebecca thought he would stop, she was throw into the air again, and he slammed her back into the ground with all of his strength, her head hitting down first onto the hard surface as it crumbled around her. Her helmet was ruined, and it fell off when all the metal around it was crushed.

Now she was exposed, and she knew what was coming next. If she hit the ground hard again, she wouldn't wake up. She had blood all over her face from the metal helmet colliding with her face every time he slammed her into the ground, but she wouldn't give up.

''Bec! Move!'' Tony yelled, trying to get in the way to stop Ivan.

''I'm...okay, dad.'' she held her hand up, trying not to worry him. ''I'm fine.''

Her voice didn't do her words justice though, it was hoarse and tired, as if she was going to give up any minute now. Ivan lost all of his power on the suit, and the arc reactor in his chest became dull and useless. He still didn't give in though, he kept throwing punches with his metal fists, trying to hit Rhodey and Tony. Rhodey had been trying to deter his attention the whole time with bullets and missiles, but his suit was too strong for all of them.

''Rhodey,'' Tony turned, blocking a few hits from Ivan. ''You wanna be a sidekick?''

''What? What are you talking about?'' Rhodey yelled back.

''I could use your help on this one.''

''What do you want me to do?''

Tony raised his hand, and Rhodey instantly knew. They were on opposite sides of each other, and when Rhodey raised his hand too, their blasts would meet in the middle where Ivan was, blowing up everything around him. They were both ready, and Ivan tried his best to activate some of his power, but it was dead thanks to Rebecca's attachment.

''Go!''

Just as they estimated, their blasts met right in the middle and soon a huge explosion took over them all. In a matter of seconds, it died down to show Ivan hunched over, falling down in defeat as blood dripping from his face when he lifted his helmet. He was done, there was nothing he could do now. However, there was something he had planned for if he didn't win his fight, and he was glad that if he was dying for this, he was taking everyone Tony loved with him.

''You lose,'' Ivan coughed, trying to smirk. ''You...lose.''

The drones that they had terminated earlier began beeping, and the red light on them was flashing with intensity. Tony rushed over to Rebecca, pulling her up. She looked as if she had been in a brutal street fight, but she assured him she was fine.

''What's going on?'' she asked, looking at the drones.

Rhodey and Tony looked down at one in particular, realizing the beeping was getting louder.

''They're gonna blow!'' Rhodey concluded.

Tony's eyes went wide with horror as he realized where the rest of the drones were. ''Pepper!''

* * *

_5 minutes earlier..._

''Are you sure you're okay here, Pepper?' Ben asked as they walked to the main entrance. ''I'm driving back to Tony's now, I can give you a ride.''

Pepper politely declined. ''No, I'm going to wait here until the park is clear. I want to make sure everything is okay.''

Ben sighed. ''I'm really sorry-''

''Don't be.'' she shook her head. ''I understand exactly why you did it.''

''But still...I lied to you, I broke your trust.''

Pepper shrugged. ''Yeah, but it was for a good reason. You most likely saved my life by doing so, and I know you helped Tony and Rebecca a lot more than you're giving yourself credit for.''

Ben shrugged. ''I did what anyone would do. I just wanted Rebecca to be okay.''

Pepper put her hand on Ben's shoulder. ''You're an amazing person, Ben. Rebecca is lucky to have you in her life, and I couldn't be happier that she chose you to be with. You're just as much family now than you ever will be, and I'm glad.''

Ben smiled. ''Thanks Pepper,'' he looked down. ''You're not serious...about quitting are you?''

Pepper shook her head. ''I don't know, Ben. There's too much going on, and I'm in the middle of it. I care too much about Tony to watch him keep doing this to himself, I mean he was dying and he didn't tell anyone. How could I have dealt with that?''

''You love him.'' Ben told her.

Pepper didn't deny anything. ''I can't keep watching him do this to himself.'' she shook her head. ''But you never know, I might change my mind.''

''Well I sure know Rebecca wouldn't like it much around here without you.''

''I'd never be out of her life, or Tony's, really. There are things we've all been through together that you just can't forget about, but I can't keep doing _this._ I can't be CEO and juggle of this. I need...to think about things.''

Ben nodded, pulling his keys from his pocket. ''Well, I hope you make the right decision.'' he smiled. ''Are you _sure _you don't want me to wait with you?''

Pepper shook her head again. ''I'm sure, really, you need to get back in case they come home. I'll just check on a few things, make sure everything's taken care of. I am CEO after all.''

''Okay then,'' Ben relented, walking out of the building. ''Goodnight Pepper.''

Ben walked out to his car and got inside, taking a deep breath as he could hear that the fighting in the park had ended. They were probably going home now, or maybe they were already there. Either way, that's where Ben was headed when he took off from the building.

Tony looked over to Rebecca who was standing next to Rhodey, both of them watching the drone flashing. It was as if none of them could move, like time had stopped once they realized what Ivan had planned. They looked over to Vanko, lifeless on the ground as his plans failed and he ultimately ended his own life with his power craze.

''I need to get to Pepper,'' Tony told them firmly. ''You both need to get out of here, fast. Are you okay?'' he asked Rebecca.

Although she didn't look it, Rebecca was fine and she didn't want to worry him any more. ''I'm fine, go get Pepper!''

''Get out of here!" he told them as he flew off.

Rebecca and Rhodey followed behind him quickly before she thought of where Ben could be. She had a tracking device built in the suit, and she asked Jarvis to pull up where Ben was right now. It worked off his cell phone since that was the only way she could get to him, and she looked over the tracking system.

''Where is he?'' she asked, looking over that layout of the Expo park.

He was close by, and Rebecca left Rhodey to follow Tony as she separated from them, following the tracking route to Ben, making sure he was away from the Expo and okay. She was going as fast as she could, and the wind was stinging against her face since her helmet had been crushed by Ivan only moments ago. She was searching for his car, and when she found him only streets away, she hurried down to stop in front of him.

''Rebecca?'' she heard him yell from the car. ''Oh my god!" Ben jumped out of the car and ran over to her, shocked at her bloodied face. ''Are you alright?''

''I'm fine,'' she assured him. ''But we need to go, there are drones all over this place and they're about to blow.'' Ben nodded, about to turn back to his car. ''No! We need to go now, there's no time to drive!"

''But...'' he looked over to his car. ''My car.''

''I'm sorry, but we need to go _now_!" she yelled.

Rebecca instructed him to hold onto the back of her suit, his hands firmly planted on pieces of metal as she flew off, going anywhere but here right now.

Tony made it to the Expo building just in time to see Pepper standing in front of a drone, staring at it quizzically as it flashed in front of her. It was making beeping noises, but she had no idea what it was about to do, and that's when Tony swooped down and grabbed her in his arms, ignoring her screams of shock as he flew them away from the building seconds before the drones exploded all over the city.

Tony didn't slow down until they reached a building's rooftop where he stopped and set Pepper back on her feet. His helmet was ruined, the images flashing in front of him, scattered, and he ripped it off to throw in on the ground. He hesitantly looked up at Pepper, who had her eyes closed as she breathed in a deep breath and looked as if she was about to pass out, except she was still screaming.

''Oh my god!'' she yelled, hyperventilating. ''I can't do this, I cannot do this anymore. I quit.'' she told him, shaking her hands. ''I'm resigning. My body literally can't handle the stress. I don't know when you're going to kill yourself, or mess up the whole company...''

''I think I did okay!'' Tony defended. ''Wait, what did you say? You're done?''

Pepper took a few more deep breaths. ''I...I...yes.''

''Well that's surprising, no, no it's not surprising...''

Tony paused for a moment, considering the fact that this woman, the woman who had been with him for a very long time and had always been there for him, the woman who he couldn't imagine not being in his life, the woman he couldn't admit his feelings to, wanted to quit. He didn't take it as a business move though. The way he saw it, she was quitting him. She was quitting seeing him everyday, quitting helping him with little things, she was leaving him, and he couldn't argue against her.

He had put her through so much. He lied to her, he embarrassed her, he never stuck to his word and he acted as if he didn't care about what she had to say or how she felt, but that was all wrong. He cared about her too much. That's why he never told her things, he hated upsetting her and causing her stress, he didn't want her to worry. These past few weeks had been tough for him, he was dying, but he took it out on her. He done things he knew he shouldn't have and that he knew Pepper didn't want him to do. He put her in danger and he caused her too much stress, just like she was saying, but he couldn't argue with her. Everything was right, there was nothing keeping her here. She didn't know how he felt about her, and now she didn't want to be anywhere near him, and why would she? He caused destruction everywhere he went and that's not what he wanted for her. She needed to be safe and happy, that's all he wanted.

''Fine, no it's fine. You don't need to make excuses.'' he told her. ''You deserve so much better.''

Pepper gave him an odd look. ''Well, I'm _not _making excuses, actually, I feel very justified in-''

''No, it's fine.'' he moved over to her, grabbing her hand. ''You've taken such good care of me all these years, you deserve to be happy. Been in a tough spot and you got me out.''

Pepper looked at him with sad eyes, although she didn't back down. ''Thank you...for understanding.''

They shared a brief moment of silence, each looking at each other, anticipating something to happen, but Pepper went straight back to business for now.

''Let's talk cleanup.''

''I'll take care of the company, and press...'' she went on.

''Mm, we could probably hold off...I could do some press stuff to address...I mean...'' Tony rambled, going on about how he was going to handle things, but when he mentioned timing Pepper was back to her old self, sort of. Tony's eyes were on hers the whole time, and he could have sworn hers were glued to his as well.

''With you it's like dog years.'' she whined, but she was inching closer.

Tony's eyes were on her lips, looking at how close they were to his. ''I know,'' he agreed, but before he knew what he was doing, his lips were on hers in an instant. The kiss went on longer than he expected, sure that she was going to pull away any minute, but he was the one who broke the kiss to see her reaction, wondering if he should brace himself for being yelled at for his inappropriateness. ''Weird,'' he commented.

Pepper shook her head, looking at his lips again. ''No, no it's not weird, not at all.''

''No?'' he asked, hiding his relief that she felt the same. ''It's okay, right? Run that by me again.'' he smirked before moving in again and kissing her more forcefully, feeling her arms snaking around his neck.

All of the tension, the emotion and the adrenaline of this moment and this night had all lead to this, and neither of them were about to stop as the city was patched with flames and explosions. This was their moment, and it had taken so long for this to happen and for them to actually admit this to each other, they weren't ending it anytime soon.

Rebecca landed on a rooftop not far from the Expo, unable to stay in the suit any longer. Ben was right next to her, making sure she was okay. She was breathing heavily, but that didn't stop her from standing up and pulling off pieces of the suit since it was ruined now anyway.

''Here,'' he pulled off pieces, helping her get out of the suit.

When she was finally free of the metal, she slumped back down on the concrete, falling into Ben's arms for comfort. He held her close, relieved that she was alright. She made it out alive, that's all he wanted. She was safe now, she was with him.

''We did it,'' she smiled. ''We stopped him. He's not going to hurt us now.''

Ben pushed the hair away from her face. ''I know, you did it.''

Rebecca moved her arm up to pull his face down closer to hers, kissing him forcefully and ignoring the pain of the contact on her face.

''You scared me,'' Ben admitted. ''Don't ever do that again.''

Rebecca laughed. ''I can't promise anything.''

''Bec,'' Ben paused, waiting as she sat up to look at him. ''I...I love you.''

Rebecca stopped for a moment, but she soon pulled him back in and pressed her lips to his, feeling his hands holding her close.

''I love you too.''

* * *

**Woah, so I hope you guys liked this chapter. As you might notice, the story is slowly coming to an end now. I've really enjoyed writing it and I will formally thank you all and explain many things next chapter when I tie up the loose ends. Just to confirm, I'm going to write an Avengers story, and I'm not sure when I will upload it since I haven't started it yet. Anyway, I will probably update as soon as I finish the chapter one for that story so you guys most likely won't have to wait long. Anyway, I'll explain everything next chapter. Please review and thanks for reading!**


	29. Chapter 29

The next morning, they were all at the hospital undergoing check-ups from the previous night of fighting against drones, missiles and electrifying whips. Neither of them would have brought themselves willingly to the hospital if it weren't for Pepper insisting on it, and after everything that had happened, they owed her this.

Tony had a few cuts and bruises on his face, and his legs were purple with bruises. He wasn't badly injured, but he did a few things cleaned up and dressed so they would heal. His arm had been hurting him since last night, and when the doctor moved it, Tony winced, resulting in it being held with a sling for a couple of days, just to make sure there was no damage to anything. Rhodey had a pressure sleeve over his knee and a few cuts and bruises, but nothing too serious. Rebecca needed a few stitches on her forehead and most of her face was covered in blotchy black bruises, but she was fine. They were all okay, and considering what they went through and what could have happened, it was a good result.

Rebecca was sitting in one of the rooms, waiting for her doctor to come back with equipment to dress her wounds, but instead, Tony walked through the door with his arm done up, a frown on his face at how inconvenient it made things.

''Got a minute?'' he asked.

She nodded. ''Dad, I _know _we need to talk-''

''No, it's not that.'' he denied, sitting beside her. ''I know why you did it, and I'm not mad at you...well, not anymore.''

''You're not?''

''Nope. You were right, you know. You're not a kid anymore and I have to get over it, you can obviously handle things on your own now.''

She reached out and put her hand on his shoulder. ''I still need my dad, though. Always will.''

Tony grinned. ''I know, and I'll always be there for you, whether you like it or not.''

''Still, I'm sorry I didn't tell you.'' she apologized.

''Hey, I think we're both past apologies, don't you think? I mean, I wasn't exactly honest with you either. A lot happened in these past few weeks, and I'm sorry I didn't tell you what was going on, but I just...I needed to fix it myself.'' he explained. ''I'm not gonna lie, I was pretty angry when I saw you in that suit. But I know now why you did it, and as much as I probably shouldn't say it...I would have done the same. I can't stand things happening without me when I can help, and I usually just do it without thinking of consequences. So I'm not mad, I'm actually proud.''

Rebecca raised her eyebrows. ''You're _proud _of me?''

He nodded. ''Yeah, I am. Not many fathers can say their daughter can build an entire Iron Man suit on their own without a single person knowing.'' he laughed. ''And not many can say they basically saved their life.''

Rebecca smiled. ''I..I didn't really. It didn't go too well.''

''You stopped him, that changed everything. If you didn't do that, as stupid as it might have been, things would have been a lot worse.''

''I guess it was pretty stupid.'' she nodded. ''But I had to do it.''

''And that's why I'm proud of you.'' he grinned. ''You're so brave, and although it scares me, I know you can take care of yourself. But that doesn't mean I'm ever gonna stop being protective of you.''

Rebecca chuckled. ''I know that.'' she agreed. ''I'm okay with that.''

A few moments later, Pepper came and collected Tony to sort a few things out while they waited for Rebecca's doctor to finish up. Rebecca could tell things had changed between her father and Pepper. They had always had this chemistry between them that Rebecca noticed, and she always thought they were both too stubborn to admit their feelings toward each other, but she could tell that wasn't the case anymore. Pepper smiled at him with excitement every time she looked at him now, and Tony always felt happier when she was around. They had a lot of things to sort out and work on, but to them, everything was perfect now. It made Rebecca happy to see them happy, it was like things were finally the way there were meant to be.

* * *

''This place is going to need a major renovation.'' Tony shook his head as he stood in his living room.

Rebecca stood beside him with her arms folded. ''Sure is.''

''Well, no better time than now.'' he walked off, down the stairs and to his workshop as Rebecca followed closely behind. ''Jarvis, I need a complete scan of the house and a damage chart, I want plans and layouts.''

''Yes, sir.''

''What are you doing?''

Tony looked back at her. ''Renovating. This place is going to be awesome.''

''Now?'' she asked. ''Isn't there like...heaps of stuff we need to be dealing with?''

''I don't want to do all that yet.'' he shook his head, whining. ''That stuff's gonna go on for days, I just want to do nothing for a day.''

It was perfect timing when Pepper made her way down to the workshop, her heels clicking against the stairs and echoing into the room where Tony turned in time to see her. He was happy to see her, he always was, but he knew she wasn't here for a quick visit, this was business. She was dressed in her professional black pencil skirt and top, her hair pulled back into a low ponytail.

''Tony,'' she sighed, walking over to them. ''The press needs to be addressed, Rhodey's working on a report now.''

''Right, will do.'' he smiled, turning back to the computer screen.

''I'm not finished.'' she turned her notepad. ''Stark Industries is calling an emergency board meeting to discuss costs and Expo losses, review of the damage and whether or not to rebuild.''

''What do you mean? It's the Stark Expo, we have to rebuild it.'' he told her.

''It cost a lot of money Tony, the board wants to weigh up their options.'' she explained.

''Well they're gonna lose.'' he mumbled.

Pepper looked back down at the notes. ''The Senate hearing has been cancelled, instead they want a meeting tomorrow to discuss what happened, but they didn't go into detail.''

''Great,'' Tony groaned.

''Tony, I would really appreciate it if you actually _did _some of these things today.'' she sighed, clearly frustrated at how much there was to do.

''I will.'' he nodded, looking over to see her looking unimpressed. ''No, I will, I promise.''

''Please do,'' she closed her folder. ''I'll be at the office if you need anything.''

A few moments after she left, Jarvis informed Tony and Rebecca that Ben was here. He had to take a cab to get there since his car was still back at the Expo, and he wasn't even sure that it was still in one piece. Rebecca had been planning on getting him another car, even Tony was on board with the idea.

When they first arrived at the hospital to get themselves checked, Tony had a word with Ben, thanking him for helping. He really couldn't have done much without him here giving him the information he needed. Tony had to admit, he wasn't exactly liking the idea of Ben being with his daughter when he hardly knew him, but through the course of one night, he knew all he needed to know to be happy that Rebecca was with him. He would do anything for her, he risked his life and broke the law for her, there was nothing else Tony needed to know.

''Me and Ben were just gonna go see if his car survived.'' Rebecca turned to Tony.

Ben walked down to the workshop door, not that there was any glass left to consider it a door at all. ''Hey,''

Tony smiled back at them. ''Watch out for the reporters, they're everywhere.''

''Will do,'' Rebecca told him as she walked toward Ben, heading for the door. ''You're gonna do that stuff for Pepper, right?''

Tony sighed. ''I'll do it soon.''

Rebecca and Ben walked out of the door, headed for the stairs and Tony watched them, their hands linked together happily, and he smiled to himself. She deserved to be happy, and it couldn't have been with anyone better.

* * *

Tony walked into Stark Industries, ignoring all of the looks he was getting as he passed the many employees and desks, heading straight for the CEO's office. He had already called back the official for the Senate, organizing a time tomorrow to meet. He was assured the meeting was not going to be what he thought, instead the Senate wanted to thank him and Rhodey for their support and protection, but there was no mention of the other suit that had appeared, and Tony was relieved. He didn't want Rebecca to be apart of the government's plans, she was better off remaining unknown when it came to Iron Man suits.

''Yes, well I have already told you and set up a meeting for next week- Well, that's the only time available in Mr. Stark's schedule- Alright then, next week it is.'' Pepper hung up the phone, taking a long breath.

Tony walked in innocently, taking a seat opposite her desk. ''Long day?''

Pepper rubbed her temples, stressed. ''Please tell me you did _something _that I told you about.''

''I did.'' he smiled proudly.

''Really? What exactly?''

''I called the Senate, meeting tomorrow to organize something for the next day. Don't really know what's the deal...but it shut them up.''

Pepper sighed. ''Thanks.''

''Have you had a break at all today?''

She looked guiltily at him. ''I...haven't had time.''

''Well in that case, your break starts now.'' he announced, standing to walk over to her. ''I'm taking you to lunch. Now, let's go, come on.''

''Tony,'' she chuckled. ''I can't go out to lunch. _You _can't go out to lunch.''

''_I _can do whatever I want.'' he defended, leaning down so his lips were inches from hers. ''Come on, you know you want to have lunch with me.''

Pepper looked up at him with a smile. ''It's not that I don't _want _to-''

''Let's go then.''

''I can't go. There's so much to do, and if any reporters see you out there, especially with me, who knows what story they'll spin.'' she explained. ''I _want _to go to lunch with you, believe me, but I can't.''

Tony nodded, understanding her reasoning. Their lips were so close, Tony couldn't resist pressing his to hers quickly before standing back. ''You deserve to go to take a break. If you don't, I'll fire you.''

''I thought I quit.''

''I never approved that move.'' he shook his head. ''Technically it doesn't count.''

Pepper couldn't help smile at his joking. ''I guess not.''

''Would you have left?'' he asked, his mood turning serious. ''If we hadn't...would you have left?''

Pepper thought to herself, looking back up at him. ''I don't know.'' she shrugged. ''At the time, I would have walked away without doubt.'' Tony could understand why should would, but it still hurt knowing that she didn't want anything to do with him at that time. ''But I don't know if I could have done it. You drive me crazy, but I don't think I could...I don't think I'd like my life without you.''

Tony caught onto her last words. She was admitting that her life wouldn't be the same without him. Tony wished he would have known this a long time ago, he wished he would have made his feelings clear before all of this happened. It had taken them both a long time to actually admit things to each other, and as soon as they did, everything changed, but for the better. They were happy together.

''Me neither.'' he shook his head, moving in closer again. ''Come on, let's go, you need to get out of this office. I promise nothing will happen,'' he threw his hands up in defense. ''It'll all be okay. Please?'' Pepper looked at him with a troubled expression, almost convinced. ''Pepper Potts please let me take you to lunch.''

Pepper stood up, her lips going for his. ''I suppose I could spare half an hour.''

''Or maybe three?''

* * *

''It's totally wrecked,'' Ben walked around his car.

The Expo guards had let them in after Rebecca assured them they were only here to check on things. They had walked most of the way to the car, most of the streets littered with fallen bricks from buildings and blown up pieces of metal drones.

''It's not..._that _bad.'' Rebecca looked over the car.

Ben stood up straight, looking at her blankly. ''It's a wreck.''

''It can be fixed.'' she assured, looking it over. ''It's mostly just the outer shell that's been damaged, we can fix that. The engine can be fixed...well, most of it. I can totally rebuild it, it's fine.''

''No, it's fine.'' he shook his head. ''I uh...I can always get another one.''

Rebecca stood up. ''No, _you _shouldn't have to get another one, you didn't do this. I can fix it up for you, I promise.''

''You've got too much to deal with.''

''Please let me fix this for you. If you don't, I'll just _buy _you another one.'' she folded her arms.

Ben laughed. ''That's what you threaten me with?'' he walked over and wrapped his arms around her. ''My girlfriend threatens to buy me a new car.''

Rebecca smiled up at him, her arms around his waist. ''And I mean it too.''

Their lips met up a few moments later, their smiles breaking the kiss as they laughed. Rebecca was surprised at how much Ben had gone through the previous night, and yet he was completely okay with still being a part of her life. Any other guy would have ran off before the evening even started, but Ben stuck around. He put up with everything Tony threw at him, everything that was falling apart over the night and he put other people before him the entire time.

''Why won't you let me buy you a car?'' she pouted.

Ben wrapped his arm around her shoulders as they walked back. ''Because I don't want you to.''

''But I want to.''

''But it's my fault you-''

''No,'' he silenced her. ''This isn't your fault, so stop blaming yourself.''

''I just hate that you had to lose your car because you were helping.'' she sighed. ''I promise I'll fix it, I don't care what you say.''

Ben chuckled. ''How about _we _fix it.''

''Fine, but I don't work well with a partner.'' she looked over to him before laughing. ''Mm, I guess I could make an exception.''

Ben dipped his head down and kissed her, stopping their steps as they stood in the middle of the road.

''Hmm, aren't I lucky.'' he laughed, looking down at her happily. ''I love you.''

Rebecca leaned in and hugged him, her head resting on his chest. ''I love you too.''

* * *

Rebecca walked through the door to find an empty house. Tony was gone, but he did mention that he was going to do some of those things that Pepper asked him to. The house was a mess, she hated looking at it. It reminded her of the party where Tony was drunk in his suit, fighting with Rhodey and completely disregarding his and everyone else's safety. Even though she understood why he did that now, she was still saddened every time she was reminded.

''Miss Stark,'' a voice came from over in the corner of the destroyed living room. A man dressed in a leather coat that fell almost to his ankles stepped forward, an eye patch securely in place. ''I think we need to talk.''

Rebecca was confused as to who this man was and how Jarvis even let him in the house. She was panicking already, thinking the worst. ''Who are you?''

The man walked closer, stopping by the now broken window at the side of the house, walking outside. ''My name is Director Nick Fury, of Shield.''

Rebecca followed. ''Shield? You work for Agent Coulson?'' Rebecca asked, remembering the name.

The man chuckled. ''Actually, Agent Coulson works _for _me.''

''I'm confused.'' she shook her head. ''My dad already spoke to Coulson, are you looking for him?''

''No, I'm here to talk to you.'' he told her. ''There are some things we need to go over regarding your Iron Man suit.''

Rebecca's heart pounded with worry. This man knew it was her, she was going to be in so much trouble with the government. Her dad would have to hand over his suits, he'd be in more trouble.

''What are you talking about?'' she played it off coolly.

Fury smiled. ''Don't worry, I'm not working for the government, they know nothing.'' he assured. ''I'm sure Coulson explained to you what Shield's interests and priorities are.''

''I don't see how _I _fit into this though.'' she shook her head.

''You've taken our interest.'' he stated. ''You built that suit by yourself, correct?'' Rebecca hesitantly nodded her head. ''And you used it to escape Ivan Vanko, saving your life. And then you used it to defend yourself against the drones, fighting back at Ivan and saving the day.''

''I don't know about that.'' she shook her head. ''I would say I distracted him.''

''You shut down his core power, an _arc reactor _to be precise. That's some powerful stuff.'' he looked at her seriously.

Rebecca shrugged. ''Not really. Not if you know what you're doing.''

''And how did _you _manage to do that?''

''I grew up around this stuff, I've worked on it before.'' she explained, still confused as to why he needed to know all of this. ''It was just a little system bug.''

''There are no _little _system bugs that can shut down an arc reactor, Miss Stark.''

''What does it matter? It was a stupid move.''

Fury sat back then. ''Do you realize what you've done?''

''I know, I shouldn't have done it-''

''You're damn right you shouldn't have done it.'' he nodded his head. ''You have no idea what you've gotten yourself into.''

''I know! But this is _my _fault, I did this, so leave my father out of it, he didn't know.''

''I told you, I'm not with the government.'' he shook his head. ''I've already spoken to your father and I intend to see him again soon to sort out some other business.''

Rebecca just looked at him in disbelief. ''Then what do you want from _me_?''

Fury looked at her curiously. ''What if I said I had a proposal for you, would you listen?''

''Would I have a choice?''

''I'll take that as a yes.''

Rebecca was now curious. ''What kind of proposal?''

* * *

''Tony, do you think this is the best time for you to do this?'' Pepper asked, following him down to the workshop.

Tony was determined, rushing down the stairs. ''Nope, I have an idea and I gotta run with it.''

Rebecca was in the workshop, working on a piece of Ben's car when she noticed Tony rushing over to a computer. At first, she thought he was coming to speak with her, somehow finding out about her conversation with Fury, but luckily he didn't know. Shield covered their tracks thoroughly, and for that she was glad, but he would have to find out sooner or later, but not now.

''What's going on?'' she looked up, confused.

''Oh nothing really, I'm just having the greatest idea ever.'' Tony told her.

Pepper slowed behind him, standing between Rebecca and Tony. ''Your father has a crazy idea that instead of working on fixing _this _place first, he wants to build-''

''It's just an idea for now, calm down, I promise I'm fixing this place up first.'' he assured them. ''But...my mind's on clean energy right now.''

''Clean energy?'' Rebecca asked. ''Where did this come from?''

Pepper looked over at Tony who was smirking, letting her do the talking for now.

''I agreed to go to lunch with your father, and apparently that required a little travel.'' she sighed. ''And he had an apparent revelation as we looked up at the buildings.''

''You're the one who said too many reporters would see us.'' he defended.

Pepper turned to him. ''That didn't mean we had to go to _New York_ for lunch and miss the rest of the day at work.''

Rebecca's mouth fell open. ''You went _where_?''

Tony dismissed the conversation, his mind on his previous idea. ''Check it out,'' he waved for her to come over. Pepper and Rebecca crowded around the computer screen, watching as Tony pulled up a few projections that he quickly sketched in those few seconds. It was a tower, and it was huge. Pepper and Rebecca didn't know what he was doing, but they knew this was just the beginning of something he would not let go of. ''_This _is what I'm going for...''

* * *

**...I hope you guys enjoyed that as it was the final chapter for this story! I hope it met everyone's expectations and didn't disappoint. I was going for a happy ending with a twist, so I hope that all worked out. I left a few loose ends so I could use them to work on the Avengers story that I will begin soon. I know it didn't make sense with Fury and Rebecca and what he was proposing, but that's just something you guys will have to wait and find out! I will tell you guys this though, Rebecca will be involved in Shield and their plans, but I'm not going to ruin the first chapter by telling you what it is now, but I hope you will like it. **

**There will be a few things changing in the next story, but I will let you know as soon as I post the first chapter. If you'd like to follow me as an author, you will be informed when I publish the next story which I hope to be soon as I always update as soon as a chapter's ready. **

**I want to thank you all for sticking with this story the whole way through and letting me know what you guys think and supporting me. I love writing, and I hope you will all follow me through to the next adventure! **

**Thanks for reading, and please review! See you all in the next story! xx**


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